Though it doesn’t look like there’s any chance that James Gunn will be rehired, after he was booted off Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 due to some controversial tweets from yesteryear that resurfaced, that might not be it for the filmmaker’s career with Marvel Studios.
The Hollywood Reporter has revealed various details about what Gunn’s future may hold, including the possibility of even moving on to other studios such as Warner Bros (perhaps to helm a DC film?). However, this might not come to pass, as Marvel might be interested in using Gunn’s script for Guardians 3, after all. What’s more, they also might be willing to work with the director on a different project.
THR has it on the authority of not one, but two sources that “there’s a hope that Gunn could return in some fashion, even if it’s to develop and direct another Marvel movie.” According to one of their sources, “An end-all verdict hasn’t been issued and conversations with Marvel are still ongoing.”
How this appears is that, though Disney execs are refusing to reverse their decision to remove Gunn from the Guardians franchise, Marvel Studios themselves don’t feel the same way and are entertaining the idea of keeping the filmmaker’s talents around.
You can definitely see how this would be to the studio’s benefit, too. Gunn was expected to be the custodian of the cosmic side of the Marvel Cinematic Universe going forward, so his role in the franchise was going to become more significant. To cut him out entirely would surely knock them for six and leave Marvel president Kevin Feige and his team struggling to change course.
That said, there’s the public reaction to keeping Gunn on that Marvel would have to consider, as those that find his past tweets offensive won’t be pleased that Disney’s continuing to associate with him. As THR says, though, “conversations with Marvel are still ongoing,” so these plans might fall through. Either way, we’ll be sure to keep you posted once we learn more.
