You’ve got to admire a person who looks on the bright side of things, and has the guts and heart to take a chance.

Such a person is James Gunn, director of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1 and the upcoming Vol. 2. Defying the odds for this plucky, quirky SF film, featuring a band of misfits and rebels, Gunn has bravely volunteered to write and direct a Vol. 3 should the movie be successful enough to warrant a third film.

In today’s tumultuous Hollywood landscape, chances are against success for any project this oddball – the soundtrack for the first film included a bunch of clunky 70s tunes, and the cast included a tree and a raccoon –  but gutsy Gunn believes in himself, the film and perhaps the studio releasing it, Marvel/Disney.

In a statement on FB Gunn stepped up to the plate – you can read the whole thing below but here’s the money quote:

But the question that comes up perhaps the most is, “What’s the deal with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, and are you going to direct?”

Before I was able to honestly answer this, I needed to know it was, in my heart, what I truly felt called to do. There is a history in Hollywood of haphazard endings to trilogies, and I didn’t want to become a part of that dishonorable tradition of pretending the third one doesn’t exist. I couldn’t do it for the money, and I couldn’t do it because it was what other people wanted me to do. I needed to do it because it was what I needed to do. I have never made choices in my career based on anything other than passion and love for the stories and characters, and I didn’t want to start now.

So, after many months of ruminations and discussions, I know the answer. I could save this answer for the first, random interviewer to ask me during the press junket but instead I thought I’d share it with the most important people in the Guardiansverse – you, the fans, who have been so incredibly supportive and enthusiastic over the past five years, it has moved me to tears on a regular basis.

So, yes, I’m returning to write and direct Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.

The third film – IF it gets made, a BIG IF – will take place after the whole Avengers Infinity War megillah and “conclude the story of this iteration of the Guardians of the Galaxy, and help catapult both old and new Marvel characters into the next ten years and beyond.”

Bravo, James Gunn, and good luck!

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 opens May 5th and I already have tickets.