One Of The Guardians Of The Galaxy 3 Actors Got Engaged During Filming, And James Gunn Tweeted Some Celebration Pictures

Gamora Star Lord and Drax in Guardians of the Galaxy
(Image credit: Marvel Studios)

A new member of the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 cast has been revealed. Earlier today, it was reported that Superstore and Crazy Rich Asians star Nico Santos will be taking part in the Guardians’ trilogy-capper. But Vol. 3 wasn’t just another professional gig for Santos. James Gunn also shared that the actor got engaged while working on the upcoming Marvel movie.

James Gunn confirmed Nico Santos’ involvement in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 on Twitter, and like the actor, the filmmaker also got engaged during the threequel’s principal photography. You can see the celebration photos shot during their time together below.

Cigars, fine alcohol and nice company are solid ways to celebrate a happy occasion, and James Gunn and Nicos Santos had all three of those covered, with some of the people in the right photo including Chris Pratt, Karen Gillan and Pom Klementieff. While Santos announced a few months back that he was engaged to Zeke Smith (who participated in two seasons of the CBS reality game show Survivor), now we know that the happy occasion happened during Santos’ time on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. As for James Gunn, he’s engaged to actress Jennifer Holland, who plays Emilia Harcourt in The Suicide Squad and the spinoff series Peacemaker.

As also seen in James Gunn’s tweet, he had nothing but kind words for Nico Santos, and the actor also showered the writer/director with praise too, saying on Instagram:

THANK YOU @jamesgunn for your genius, kindness and for fostering and creating such an incredibly FUN world to work and play in.  

Nico Santos is the fifth major newcomer to be brought into Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Will Poulter was the first of that bunch to be revealed, and he’ll be playing Adam Warlock, who was teased in one of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2’s end-credits scenes. Then there’s Peacemaker’s Chukwudi Iwuji, who’s described his character in Vol. 3 as “powerful” and “extremely complex.” The Suicide Squad’s Daniela Melchior will also briefly appear in the movie, while Borat Subsequent Moviefilm’s Maria Bakalova has been cast in a “key role.” As of right now, it’s unclear how much screentime Santos will have in Vol. 3.

As for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’s familiar faces, Chris Pratt, Karen Gillan and Pom Klementieff are joined once again by Zoe Saldaña, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Sean Gunn, Elizabeth Debicki and Sylvester Stallone. No plot details for the movie have been revealed yet, but fans of the MCU’s Guardians can take comfort knowing this is one of three appearances lined up for the core team. First, all its members (minus Saldaña’s Gamora) are showing up next month in Thor: Love and Thunder, and then in December comes The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, which will be viewable with a Disney+ subscription.

After that, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 arrives in theaters on May 5, 2023. CinemaBlend continue passing along updates on what to expect from the threequel, including details about Nicos Santos’ character. Until then, we congratulate him and James Gunn on their respective engagements.

Adam Holmes
Senior Content Producer

Connoisseur of Marvel, DC, Star Wars, John Wick, MonsterVerse and Doctor Who lore, Adam is a Senior Content Producer at CinemaBlend. He started working for the site back in late 2014 writing exclusively comic book movie and TV-related articles, and along with branching out into other genres, he also made the jump to editing. Along with his writing and editing duties, as well as interviewing creative talent from time to time, he also oversees the assignment of movie-related features. He graduated from the University of Oregon with a degree in Journalism, and he’s been sourced numerous times on Wikipedia. He's aware he looks like Harry Potter and Clark Kent.