Lou Diamond Phillips says Young Guns 3 “not dead”

His character was presumed dead in the sequel, but Phillips believes he could still return for Young Guns 3.

Lou Diamond Phillips, who played real-life Wild West Regulator Jose Chavez y Chavez in both Young Guns and Young Guns II, has hinted that Young Guns 3 could still very well hop back on the saddle at some point.

Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Phillips said Young Guns 3 isn’t entirely off the table, although talk has certainly slowed down. “It’s in limbo right now…It was chugging along there for a minute, but then I think they got into a rights situation…It’s not dead, but it’s not happening right now.” While the movies certainly have a following, that more than 30 years has passed since Young Guns II might be an indication that fan interest may have aged out. After all, many people might only remember the second one for Jon Bon Jovi’s “Blaze of Glory”, which won a Golden Globe and could have lassoed the Oscar if it wasn’t for Madonna. Maybe it would be best to get Phillips, Emilio Estevez, Christian Slater, Alan Ruck and the rest together to reunite for a Super Bowl commercial?

Young Guns 3 has been teased before. Not long after writer John Fusco made his announcement in 2021, Lou Diamond Phillips said, “I got that phone call a year ago. I know that Emilio has been working on it, and what’s even more encouraging is that John Fusco, the creator of the first two movies, is working on it with him.” As far as how Phillips could reprise his role? “There’s just enough ambiguity about Chavez’s death that means he might have survived just like Billy the Kid did…Did you see the body? You never saw the body! Some people go, ‘But the spirit horse came for you.’ And I say yes, but there was nobody on the back of the spirit horse, was there? The advantage of that is myself and a couple of other people died off screen. The ones who got shot to bits, they’re not coming back.” Sorry, Kiefer!

Do you think there is a big enough interest in Young Guns 3? Or has too much time passed for the filmmakers to capitalize? Give us your thoughts in the comments section below!