We’ve known for a while now that the third Guardians of the Galaxy movie would be the last adventure for this particular incarnation of the Guardians team, and after that there are plans afoot to fully launch the cosmic corner of the greater Marvel Cinematic Universe. Well, now writer/director James Gunn has been discussing all of this.

Speaking to Heat Vision about where things currently stand with the future of these cosmic properties, Gunn enthused, “Those scripts are already in the works. Kevin and I talk about it all the time; we just had a meeting today. Discussing what is the next iteration of cosmic characters and where are the characters that we’ve already created going to go in the next batch of films.”

Those new movies would take place after Guardians Vol. 3, and there’s pretty much a bottomless pit of comic book characters available to be brought to the big screen where all things cosmic and otherworldly are concerned. Of course, with Guardians 3 to be the last outing for Star-Lord, Gamora and Co., already there’s speculation that Sylvester Stallone’s Starhawk could lead a new incarnation of the team. Interestingly, in the comic book world, a lot of the players seen with Sly’s Stakar were part of the original Guardians of the Galaxy line-up.

On that idea of Sakar heading up a new team, Gunn explained, “I’m definitely interested in the direction that these characters are headed and their roles in the Marvel Universe.”

In the comic book realm, mind, the original Guardians team had some bonkers origin stories, most notably being from 1,000 years in the future. If they do get more focus going forward, time-travel won’t be factored in, with Gunn stating, “That is not something that we’re dealing with. These are older characters and more criminal than our Guardians. So we’re focusing on that.”

As ever, expect more on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and the more cosmic elements of the MCU as this all continues to develop.