Lou Diamond Phillips has revealed why Young Guns 3 is taking so long to get made. Featuring an ensemble cast led by Emilio Estevez as the legendary outlaw William Bonney (aka Billy the Kid), the first Young Guns quickly became a cult classic despite receiving mixed reviews at the time of its original 1988 release. Nonetheless, a sequel would follow in 1990, which also resonated well with audiences despite receiving largely negative reviews from critics. As recently as 2021, Estevez revealed that Young Guns 3 was “definitely in the works,” though little else has been heard since then.

During a recent appearance on Michael Rosenbaum’s Inside of You podcast, Phillips was asked whether he was interested in a potential return to the Young Guns franchise. Not only was he interested, but he had already been approached to do so off the back of a new script Estevez had penned. The actor elaborated that all characters whose deaths were offscreen in Young Guns 2 would have a chance to return. Unfortunately, however, Morgan Creek Productions, as the rights owners, have seemingly put a halt on the project. Check out the video and Phillips’ comments below:

Not only would I consider it, I said ‘yes’ to it… Here’s the thing, a lot of people on the interweb, there was a rumor going around and it’s persistent about a Young Guns 3. And it’s because Emilio wrote a script, and this is recently. This is in the last couple of years. Emilio wrote a great script doing just that, adding the timeline to put us at the age we are now.

Without giving too much away, those of us whose deaths were off camera get to come back. It’s a fantastic script and John Fusco the original producer is behind it as well, and Emilio is going to direct. Morgan Creek has put the kibosh on it for the time being. Emilio was literally doing location scouting and had done storyboards, and I saw all of this and he was far down the road toward production. But for some reason Morgan Creek would like to control the property, but as far as I know, they’re not doing anything with it so it just seems really counterproductive.

Which Regulators Could Potentially Return For Young Guns 3?

Audiences May See Several Familiar Faces If Young Guns 3 Goes Ahead.

When audiences last saw Phillips’ Jose Chavez y Chavez in Young Guns 2, he was fatally wounded in a shootout and left the remaining members of his gang to meet his fate alone. While the vision of a spirit horse suggested his character had died, the actor’s most recent comments seemingly imply that he somehow survived his injury. Therefore, audiences may also encounter some other unexpected faces should Estevez succeed in having Morgan Creek authorize the development of Young Guns 3.

Aside from Billy the Kid and Chavez, the next most likely character to appear in a potential Young Guns 3 would be Christian Slater’s “Arkansas” Dave Rudabaugh, the reckless outlaw who constantly challenged Billy for leadership of the gang. Where most of Billy’s compatriots had eventually met their fates, Dave Rudabaugh successfully escaped Garrett’s pose and made his way safely into Mexico, though the movie’s epilogue revealed that he was later beheaded as a warning to other outlaws. Similarly, Alan Ruck’s Hendry William French also managed to escape capture, and would eventually turn his back on life as an outlaw.

One character whose character would stretch the limits of plausibility, however, would be Kiefer Sutherland’s “Doc” Spurlock. Valiantly sacrificing himself to allow his friends to escape, Doc’s death came in a hail of bullet fire that was indeed shown on screen. However, the real-life Doc Spurlock would live until 1929 aged 80 years old, so Estevez may also be planning to retcon that death. Sadly, however, all this remains pure speculation until work on Young Guns 3 is given the official greenlight by Morgan Creek.

Source: Inside of You With Michael Rosenbaum