Marvel Studios just reinstated James Gunn as the director of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and it appears the production house is already laying the groundwork to begin filming the project as soon as they can. According to a new listing from Production Weekly, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will begin production in February 2021 under the working title of "Hot Christmas," as previously reported.

While it's still nearly two years away, the 2021 date is likely the earliest Marvel Studios wanted to film the video for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, Gunn is still attached to Warner Brothers' The Suicide Squad, a movie that's not released until August 2021. With this production date, it's likely Gunn would wrap on his DCEU film before heading to Pinewood Studios in Atlanta to film Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3 — he'd then likely wrap Guardians before returning for the Suicide Squad press tour in the later Summer 2021 months.

Though it was never removed from the release slate entirely, Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige did previously confirm that the production had been delayed as they worked on other productions — likely Black Widow, The Eternals, and Shang-Chi, to name a few. Even before Gunn was rehired as the director, Feige had confirmed they would still be using the filmmaker's script.

“I mean, when it was pushed back, it was pushed back," Feige shared with Collider. "Meaning the release date, because it’s not coming out—although we’ve never announced a release date actually, but it was gonna happen sooner rather than later, initially of course. Outside of knowing that we’re gonna use [James Gunn’s] draft, [we have] been focusing on other projects.”

Captain Marvel is now in theaters. Other upcoming Marvel Studios films due out this year include Avengers: Endgame on April 26th and Spider-Man: Far From Home on July 5th.

Are you looking forward to Guardians 3? Where do you think Gunn's going to take the group of misfits? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below or join the conversation online by hitting me up on Twitter at @AdamBarnhardt!

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