Despite their characters having died in the second film, Lou Diamond Phillips & Christian Slater are returning.

After years of rumours, it looks like Young Guns 3 is finally happening. Emilio Estevez confirmed the news himself at Film and Media Day at the New Mexico State Capitol. “We’ve started the ball rolling on Young Guns 3,” with him adding, ”I’ve heard all the jokes: Old Guns, Ancient Guns. You can hold on to those.” In an official press release from the office of New Mexico governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, the film’s title was listed as Young Guns 3: Dead or Alive, with it further revealed Estevez would be directing the film himself (on location in New Mexico), having also co-written the script with franchise regular John Fusco. 

The report also says Lou Diamond Phillips and Christian Slater will be returning, which may raise a few eyebrows. Why? Well, if you remember Young Guns 2, both characters died, although, conveniently, neither was killed on-screen. Phillips’s Chavez, who was mortally wounded, rode off to meet his fate alone, while Slater’s Arkansas Dave was apparently beheaded in Mexico, a destiny we never observe with it only revealed in the movie’s epilogue. Of course, Emilio Esteves’s Billy the Kid survived his commonly accepted fate, with him being allowed to get away by the movie’s version of Pat Garrett, played by William Petersen. 

While a Young Guns 3 has been much-rumoured in recent years, it looks like Estevez is dead serious about making it this time. It also makes sense that he would direct the film, having made several acclaimed films over the years, including the RFK film Bobby, The Public, and, in my opinion, his best film – The Way – which starred his father. Who knows, maybe Estevez will find a way to bring back some other franchise vets like Kiefer Sutherland and his brother, Charlie Sheen, although their characters are more definitively dead. 

Are you excited about Young Guns 3? Let us know in the comments!