When is Guardians of the Galaxy 3 coming to Disney Plus?

We’ll all fly away together… onto Disney Plus

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

When willGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3land on Disney Plus? That’s a question we suspect you’ve asked yourself since theMarvelmovie arrived in theaters in May.

At last, we have an answer to that pressing question:Wednesday, August 2.Guardians of the Galaxy 3only launched in theaters on May 3, so we expected the latestMarvelfilm to take its time in joiningDisney Plus' back catalog.

That’s proven to be the case, with the superhero flick not making the hyperjump to Disney’s primary streamer.Guardians 3has been available to stream on other services in a rent and/or buy capacity, but not on Disney Plus. Now, though, Disney Plus subscribers can soon watch theMarvel Phase 5on the platform at no extra cost. Just make sure you have a box of tissues ready when you settle in to watch theMCUmovie, as this one is a real tearjerker.

When will Guardians 3 be released on Disney Plus?

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’s Disney Plus release datewas confirmed on Tuesday, July 18. The superhero movie will make its proper streaming debut on Wednesday, August 2, almost exactly three months after its original theatrical release.

After a few box office duds –Ant-Man 3andThor: Love and Thunder, we’re looking at you – in the past year, Marvel needed a big theatrical win. Luckily for the studio,Guardians 3provided the goods, with James Gunn’s final MCU film earning $844 million at the box office (perBox Office Mojo).

Why wasGuardians 3’s performance in theaters important? Given it continued to sell tickets, Marvel wasn’t in a rush to remove it from theaters and release it on Disney’s main streaming service. Why release it for free (to Disney Plus subscribers, that is) if it continued to make cash across the globe?

Recently,Guardians 3has had a bunch of highly anticipatednew moviesto contend with, though.Mission Impossible 7,Oppenheimer, andBarbiehave all been released in July, earning hundreds of millions of dollars in the process. With cinemagoers likely to watch one of these movies instead in the coming weeks,Guardians 3’s theatrical lifecycle has come to an end, hence its forthcoming launch on Disney Plus.

Get the best Black Friday deals direct to your inbox, plus news, reviews, and more.

Sign up to be the first to know about unmissable Black Friday deals on top tech, plus get all your favorite TechRadar content.

Editor’s note:the rest of this article looks at TechRadar’s prediction for Guardians 3’s Disney Plus launch, so you’ll find no new information past this point.

Guardians of the Galaxy 3 on Disney Plus: our prediction

So, when couldGuardians of the Galaxy 3descend on Disney Plus? As we said in our original introduction, we think it’ll be August.

Marvel films used to have a 45-day exclusivity period in theaters before they dropped on Disney’s main streamer. However, the last two MCU movies –Black Panther: Wakanda ForeverandAnt-Man 3– didn’t debut on the platform until three months after their theatrical debuts. If this 90-day exclusivity period is the new time frame between a Marvel movie launching in theaters and them coming on Disney Plus,Guardians 3wouldn’t land on one of the world’sbest streaming servicesuntil early August at the very earliest.

The only thing that might change that is the writers' strike, which is (at the time of writing) dominating the entertainment industry news cycle.

For those unfamiliar with the industrial action: members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) are striking over pay and job security issues, meaning no new TV shows or movies are being written for TV networks or streaming platforms. You can read more about what’s going on in our article aboutNetflix users cancelling their subscriptions amid the growing writers' strike feud.

WithSecret Invasionnow on Disney Plus (read ourSecret Invasionreviewwhile you’re here), andLokiseason 2andEchoset to arrive before the end of 2023, Marvel won’t be immediately impacted by the strike action. However, if Disney and its subsidiaries (including Marvel Studios) start to run out of new content for Disney’s streaming services, including Disney Plus andHulu, they could decide to releaseGuardians of the Galaxy 3earlier than expected. That might mean the latest entry in ourbest Marvel moviesguide releases in July, which we wouldn’t complain about.

The only potential spanner in the works about a July launch is the fact thatGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3is coming to digital storefronts during that month. The movie will land onAppleTV,YouTube, theAmazonstore, and other rent/buy platforms on July 7. If Marvel wants to make a quick buck from those services before it releases the film on Disney Plus, we won’t seeGuardians 3join the streamer’s movie library next month.

For more MCU-based coverage, find outhow to watch the Marvel movies in order, learn whereGuardians 3placed on ourbest Marvel movieslist, and see which Marvel films made it onto ourbest superhero movieslist.

As TechRadar’s senior entertainment reporter, Tom covers all of the latest movies, TV shows, and streaming service news that you need to know about. You’ll regularly find him writing about the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Star Wars, Netflix, Prime Video, Disney Plus, and many other topics of interest.

An NCTJ-accredited journalist, Tom also writes reviews, analytical articles, opinion pieces, and interview-led features on the biggest franchises, actors, directors and other industry leaders. You may see his quotes pop up in the odd official Marvel Studios video, too, such as thisMoon Knight TV spot.

Away from work, Tom can be found checking out the latest video games, immersing himself in his favorite sporting pastime of football, reading the many unread books on his shelf, staying fit at the gym, and petting every dog he comes across.

Got a scoop, interesting story, or an intriguing angle on the latest news in entertainment? Feel free to drop him a line.

How to watch Gangnam B-Side online – stream the South Korean drama from anywhere

‘The stakes are so different’: Endurance filmmaker on finding Ernest Shackleton’s iconic lost ship in a new documentary on Disney Plus

Your doctor may have an AI assistant taking notes during your next Zoom call