When Chris Pratt’s Star-Lord stole an Orb containing the Power Infinity Stone on Morag, he set off a chain of events that brought together the eponymous crew of 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy. Director James Gunn’s comical adventure, which saw a group of misfits become a caring (kind of) found family, has become a fan-favorite of Kevin Feige’s Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Six years after the Guardians’ sophomore outing in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017), fans will be reunited with Peter Quill’s ragtag team in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023). While little is known regarding the threequel, a recent casting call points to the inclusion of some brand-new alien characters.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will debut as part of Marvel’s Phase 4 which includes other movies like Thor: Love and Thunder (2022), Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022), Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022), and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023). That’s not to mention this year’s releases of films like Black Widow (2021) and Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021). It’s safe to say that after over a year of no Marvel content, 2021 has certainly delivered, setting up the future of the Marvel Universe in an extremely significant way following Thanos’ (Josh Brolin) Snap in Avengers: Infinity War (2018).

The later release of the third Guardians installment relates to the firing of Gunn in 2018 following resurfaced controversial social media posts. The cast rallied behind their director after The Walt Disney Company and Marvel Studios let Gunn go and he was eventually reinstated as the Guardians 3 helmer in 2019. However, at the time of his firing, Warner Bros. snapped the filmmaker up for their now released The Suicide Squad (2021), meaning Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 was pushed further down Marvel’s release schedule.

The Marvel movie is tightly under wraps but both cast and crew have teased a rather emotional installment in the Guardians franchise with Gunn and actors like Dave Bautista (Drax the Destroyer) hinting that this will be their final outing at the Marvel studio.

New characters for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3?

According to a new casting call, Marvel is looking for actors to take on what seems to be a new alien species that will appear in Gunn’s next outing. Per the Tammy Smith Atlanta Casting Facebook via The Direct:

The call is looking for “short/small” men and women between 4’0″ and 5’3″ of any ethnicity and over 18 years old. They are set to be in full prosthetic make-up, cannot be claustrophobic, and will be portraying child-type characters.

Filming for these characters is set to take place on November 16 of this year and in March 2022.

The casting call confirms it is looking for minor roles for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.

It is unclear who these characters will be but the inclusion of prosthetics in the casting call would suggest that a new alien race may be making its way to the MCU. With Loki having blasted open the Multiverse and shattering the Sacred timeline, this alien race could be from any corner of the Marvel Universe.

What’s next for the Guardians?

Bautista’s character — along with Star-Lord, Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper), Groot (Vin Diesel), Nebula (Karen Gillan), Mantis (Pom Klementieff) — are all set to appear ahead of their titular movie in Taika Waititi’s Thor: Ragnarok (2017) follow-up, Thor: Love and Thunder, next year. Marvel’s Guardians will star alongside Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Natalie Portman (Jane Foster/Mighty Thor), Tessa Thompson (Valkyrie), and Christian Bale (Gorr the God Butcher), among other new and returning cast members. Zoe Saldana’s Gamora is yet to be confirmed for the 2022 film.

The Guardians will also appear in their own seasonal special at the end of next year in Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2022).

Are you looking forward to James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3? Let us know in the comments!