Fans have long expected that the Guardians of the Galaxy would finally meet the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War. No one at Marvel Studios had confirmed as such, however, until Groot went and opened his big mouth. During a live chat celebrating the fact that his Facebook page has hit more than 100 million followers, Vin Diesel finally said what everyone already assumed.
As the actor thanked his millions of fans for their support, he recalled how a picture he posted from his first meeting with Marvel had an issue of Avengers in the background. “What’s gonna be surreal is that picture is going to come to pass because now the Guardians will be included in Avengers: Infinity War and that’s incredibly exciting,” he said. “Incredibly exciting. Incredibly exciting and something that if you were a part of our page you knew before everybody.”
Maybe that’s because Diesel keeps spilling the beans before Marvel’s ready to? Anyway, this is the first time a member of the MCU or Marvel Studios has said with certainty that Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), Rocket Racoon (Bradley Cooper), Gamora (Zoe Saldana), and Drax (Dave Bautista) will fight alongside the Avengers in their battle against Thanos in the Infinity War. They might not be the only ones making the crossover, as May 5th, 2017’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 looks to add Karen Gillan’s Nebula, Michael Rooker’s Yondu, and Pom Klementieff’s Mantis to the GotG team.
Avengers: Infinity War (which is no longer considered a “Part I” as originally announced) will be directed by Anthony and Joe Russo from a script by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, the same team that worked on Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Captain America: Civil War. It’s currently scheduled for May 4th, 2018.