After more than a year of no new MCU movies, fans are desperate for any morsel of information about upcoming projects in the franchise. Among the most highly anticipated are James Gunn’sGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, and Taika Waititi’sThor: Love and Thunder. When last we saw Thor, he was leaving to go with the Guardians on a space adventure. Ever since then, fans have wondered how their two movies will overlap. In a recent Q&A, Gunn was asked about the timeline forGuardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3, and he confirmed it takes place afterThor: Love and Thunder
“It takes place after Love and Thunder.”
The info falls in line with what we know about the two movies so far.Thor: Love and Thunderhas already started filming, and publicity photos have confirmed that Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, and Pom Klementieff have shot scenes for the film. One notable name that is missing is Zoe Saldana, who plays a member of the Guardians,Gamora.
At the end ofAvengers: Endgame, regular Gamora was still dead, but a Gamora from the past had jumped into the present and taken off into space alone. The Guardians intended to follow Gamora and bring her back into the fold, with Thor accompanying them as a gesture of gratitude for saving his life earlier.
SinceThor: Love and Thundertakes place before the nextGuardians of the Galaxymovie, that means Gamora is still missing at that time, and thus would not be able to show up inLove and Thunder. That is the kind of overlap that MCU filmmakers have to keep in mind when using characters from separate franchises. In the past, Gunn had confirmed on Twitter that he has worked with Waititi to make sure the script forThor: Love and Thundercoheres with the story forGuardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3.
“Not much, & @TaikaWaititi is doing a great job - the script is amazing. We talked before he started writing it about where the characters are & where they’re going & he read the script for Vol 3 & then I read his script & shared my thoughts.”
Even without Gamora in the mix,Thor: Love and Thunderwill have plenty of badass female characters to choose from. Aside from the return of Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie, and Jaimie Alexander as Lady Sif, Natalie Portman will be making a comeback asJane Foster, who is now also imbued with the powers of the God of Thunder and Lightning.
Directed by Taika Waititi,Thor: Love and Thunderstars Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie, Natalie Portman as Jane Foster, Jaimie Alexander as Lady Sif, Chris Pratt as Star-Lord, Dave Bautista as Drax, Karen Gillan as Nebula, and Christian Bale as Gorr the God Butcher. The film arrives in theaters on August 19, 2025. Written and directed byJames Gunn,Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3is set to begin filming this year and hit theaters on August 15, 2025. This news comes courtsesy ofScreen Rant.
