We consider a theory of the g factor of a bound muon in a three-body atomic system, which consists of a spinless nucleus, a muon, and an electron in the medium range of Z = 10-30. We show that the calculation at the one-ppm level of accuracy can be separated into a consideration of an internal subsystem mu - N (with a muon at the ground state) and an external subsystem with an electron and a compound mu - N nucleus. We discuss the most important contributions to the g factor of the bound muon in the mu - N system in the medium-Z approximation. In this range the list of relevant contributions contains kinematic pure Coulomb contributions, the finite-nuclear-size ones, and muonic-atom-specific contributions with closed electron loops. In the ...