The Guardians of the Galaxy characters he’s brought to the big screen are certainly part of the same Cinematic Universe as Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor, but the writer/director has vocally expressed his happiness with the fact that his stories are set far away from the various Earthbound conflicts we’ve previously seen.
While part of the Marvel Studios family of filmmakers, James Gunn has spent years distancing his work from the anticipated Avengers: Infinity War.
Now that the big 2018 capstone project is in production, however, Gunn has finally gone on the record about his involvement with the film, essentially explaining his position as being the Guardian of the Guardians.