Kevin Feige has hinted at the future of the MCU many times, even suggesting that Marvel Studios has penciled in its schedule through 2028. More recently he has pulled back on that schedule a bit, suggesting that Phase Four is up in the air a bit.

Today James Gunn, the director of Guardians of Galaxy Vols. 1 & 2, tweeted similar information out, in response to a fan question.

Putting Feige and Gunn’s comments together, it appears that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is a likely contender for the first film out of the gate in Phase 4. At that point in the MCU several properties will be ready for a sequel, but only Guardians and Ant-Man will be ready for a third installment. 2020 will also be three years from the release of the second in Gunn’s series, a reasonable gap between films. On the other hand, it’s obvious that this film hasn’t been secretly green lit. Might it be Marvel Studios is waiting to see who is still alive after the big battle with Thanos?

Gunn’s interest in directing the third Guardians is still lukewarm. He has consistently said over the process of making Vol. 2 that he is focusing merely on the task at hand. He will make decisions about the future after the release next May. It’s hard to read if Gunn is getting fatigued of the MCU hamster wheel (he started writing Vol. 2 very close to the release date of Vol. 1), or if he feels such love for the material that he wants to see a trilogy to completion.

If Gunn doesn’t do Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 it would be hard to imagine someone else taking over. This series has his directorial signature all over it. Would Gunn be more interested if he could move into new territory like a Adam Warlock film or some spin-off like a Rocket & Groot feature? Apparently, Gunn’s favorite superhero is coming to the screen in Vol. 2, so maybe a shot at continuing that character’s story will be enough! It will also be interesting to see if Marvel Studios tries to expand their galactic side of the MCU via Nova or Inhumans or some other rumored space-set films.

What do you think? Do you want to see Gunn finish a trilogy? Or would you like to see him try his hand at something else?