Despite an open letter of support from the entire Guardians of the Galaxy cast, it appears that Disney is in no hurry to rehire James Gunn as director of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. While there have been rumors that Disney is willing to discuss matters further with the ousted director, Variety reports that this isn’t the case, and that the studio will hold firm on its decision.
The decision to fire Gunn came in the wake of a series of very old, but very offensive, tweets that were brought to light by alt-right blogger Mike Cernovitch. The tweets weren’t hidden or deleted, and Gunn had apologized for similar material in the past, so it seems unlikely that the studio was unaware of them. And while it’s rare to see an entire cast make such a pointed statement of support for an ousted director, especially against the Disney/Marvel juggernaut, they’re still under contract, and wield little actual power.
None of this should come as a surprise to anyone. While Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 was apparently slated to start filming in February 2019, Disney appears to be willing to take its time to find the right director. Fans immediately speculated that Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi would be a good fit, or the Russo Brothers, who will have time on their hands once Avengers 4 wraps. But Variety‘s sources expect that the studio will look have to look elsewhere, as the expected names all have prior commitments.
Gunn probably had more creative control over his wing of the MCU than any director in Marvel Studios’ history. He had already done extensive work on the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 script, and even without him in the director’s chair, a chunk of that would seem likely to make it to the screen. But with no release date set for the movie, and with Marvel happily playing their future franchise plans close to the vest in the wake of Avengers: Infinity War, there doesn’t seem to be any hurry.
The full schedule of upcoming Marvel movies can be found here.