James Gunn has updated fans on his progress creating the next Awesome Mix for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3. The writer/director has already begun work on the third installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe series, with its initial treatment supposedly already done. It will be a while until we see the fruits of these labors, of course, with the Marvel slate pretty full up to 2019.

Part of what's made the Guardians series so dependable is the soundtracks, which have arguably become as iconic as the movies they are part of. Both Awesome Mixes have been big hits in their own right, with top notch selections of classic songs that have quickly become synonymous with the Space Avengers. As such, it is no surprise that the song selection for Guardians 3 is being given comparable thought to the film's narrative.

While answering a couple of fan questions on his official Twitter account, Gunn revealed that the current track list for Awesome Mix Vol. 3 is over 180 songs. He made it sound like he has already narrowed it down from a much bigger selection. That said, with his work still in progress, he added that it is possible that the list can get longer.

Of course, the finished soundtrack won't include all those 181 songs and will inevitably be parsed down to around 10-15 choice tracks. The filmmaker previously revealed that the tracklist for Awesome Mix Vol. 2 started at 500+ songs until he was able to downsize to just 14. Awesome Mix Vol. 1, on the other hand, had 12 featured songs.

In a follow-up question, the director also revealed how much the soundtracks factor into the film's budget. Asked how big an impact they have, Gunn said they only make up a fraction of the films' massive production cost.

Whatever songs end up used, they're sure to be story relevant. Gunn has talked previously about how soundtrack choice is directly linked to the narrative at hand. This makes the songs feel more organic to the film's world instead of just being shoehorned to make for a cool soundtrack. Thus far, we have only been treated to 70s and 80s jams, capitalizing on the franchise's nostalgia vibe. But with Star-Lord now equipped with a Zune music player, we might see the cosmic heroes rocking to more contemporary songs in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.

Next: Guardians of the Galaxy: What Songs Should Be On Awesome Mix Vol. 3?

Source: James Gunn