It's unusual for a Marvel franchise to repeatedly use the same director, but it's just been announced that 'Guardians of the Galaxy' are doing just that by re-enlisting James Gunn to direct the third film. He made the announcement on social media, just weeks ahead of the second film's release.

James Gunn at the 'Doctor Strange' premiereJames Gunn at the 'Doctor Strange' premiere

'I'm returning to write and direct Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3', said James this week. It wasn't an easy decision for James to make, but he has ultimately decided to stick with his beloved Guardians for at least one more film after this year's 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2' which comes out next month.

Part of his decision-making involved considering deeply the consequences of creating a trilogy and trying to ignore financial matters and encouragement from other people. 'There is a history in Hollywood of haphazard endings to trilogies, and I didn't want to become a part of that dishonorable tradition of pretending the third one doesn't exist', he explained in a Facebook post. 'I couldn't do it for the money, and I couldn't do it because it was what other people wanted me to do. I needed to do it because it was what I needed to do.'

Watch the trailer for 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2' here:

There was just something about those distinctive and hilarious characters that he couldn't abandon at this point. 'In the end, my love for Rocket, Groot, Gamora, Star-Lord, Yondu, Mantis, Drax, and Nebula - and some of the other forthcoming heroes - goes deeper than you guys can possibly imagine', he said. 'I feel they have more adventures to go on and things to learn about themselves and the wonderful and sometimes terrifying universe we all inhabit.'

We will see more of the Guardians after the second chapter is released; Anthony and Joe Russo's 'Avengers: Infinity War' will feature Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Zoe Saldana, Chris Pratt, Michael Rooker, Pom Klementieff, Dave Bautista and Karen Gillan in those respective roles in 2018.

'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2' is set for release on May 5th 2017.