Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will release Wednesday, August 2 on Disney+ and Disney+ Hotstar. The latest chapter in the Marvel Cinematic Universe — soon to be succeeded by The Marvels, premiering November 10 globally — will arrive 89 days after its theatrical release on May 5 in India, the US, and elsewhere. That’s one day less than the 90-day window Disney determined for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, the studio’s last cinematic outing. In India, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will be available to stream in English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam on Disney+ Hotstar.
Marvel also dropped a trailer for the Disney+ release, reminding that the trilogy is now complete, alongside the exclusive spin-off The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special. Disney originally implemented a minimum 45-day window before theatrical movies were made available for streaming. In recent times, that number seems to have been inflated and spaced out, with Marvel movies receiving an almost 90-day gap between releases. Avatar: The Way of Water was also subjected to a whopping 173-day window — almost half a year — before arriving on streamers, but that also had to do with its unstoppable and successful theatrical run, which earned it $2.320 billion (about Rs. 19,033 crore) at the box office.
For animated movies, the window has always been smaller, with the films getting dropped on Disney+ within 30 days of the theatrical release, though now that seems to have changed as well. Elemental — released June 16 worldwide, June 23 in India — still does not have a streaming release date, and is still performing reasonably well in its theatrical run.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 earned $843.3 million (about Rs. 6,918 crore) at the global box office, charting the final chapter in the saga, as our ragtag group head out on an interstellar journey to save Rocket Raccoon’s (Bradley Cooper) life. Through it all, we’ll often jump into flashback segments of the loudmouthed furball’s life as he reminisces about the time he spent in an experimental facility with friends Wal Rus and Lylla, being used as worthless test subjects by the High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji), who intends to create ideal beings. There are some elements of romance in there as well, as Peter Quill/ Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) tries to woo the alternate version of Gamora (Zoe Saldaña) — first introduced in Avengers: Endgame.
Not only is this the end of the trilogy, but director James Gunn’s final MCU movie for the foreseeable future, as he prepares to chart a new course for DC Universe as the newly appointed head of DC Studios. The filmmaker previously released a slate of projects under the new regime, which includes Superman: Legacy — out July 11, 2025 — starring David Corenswet, Rachel Brosnahan, and Nathan Fillion. For now, it’s unclear how the film’s production will be affected, now that the actors’ strike has gone into effect.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is out August 2 on Disney+ and Disney+ Hotstar. In India, the Marvel movie will be available in English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam.