With James Gunn now persona non grata at the House of Mouse, fans have started pondering who could take over directing duties on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. And for once, there’s general agreement, with almost everyone thinking that the obvious candidate by a mile is Thor: Ragnarok director Taiki Waititi. I agree, too, and it seems like a pretty clear-cut decision for Disney for a number of reasons.
For one, there’s the fact that Ragnarok tapped into the same 70’s sci-fi aesthetic that the Guardians of the Galaxy films luxuriate in, from the Jack Kirby-inspired costume, prop and set designs to the rock classics that soundtrack the action scenes. The pair also gel in terms of tone, with both able to make audiences laugh (a lot) while emotionally involving them in the main plot.
In addition, he should be free for the planned shoot in early 2019. Waititi’s currently filming Jojo Rabbit with Sam Rockwell, Rebel Wilson and Scarlett Johansson, a movie about “a young boy in Hitler’s army [who] finds out his mother is hiding a Jewish boy in their home.” That should be done by September though, so if Vol. 3 gets pushed back a little, he might have time to edit and go through post-production on Jojo while prepping his Guardians script.
All that said, this has to be an enormous blow to James Gunn. Of all the Marvel Studios movies, his were the ones that most showed the fingerprints of their director. It was obvious from interviews and commentaries that he has a heartfelt passion for these characters and the Marvel Universe at large and was looking forward to concluding his personal trilogy within it. Given that his script was said to be all but done, you’d imagine that whoever directs Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will still take inspiration from it.
Then again, if Taiki Waititi’s unavailable, I hear Ron Howard’s always happy to step in to take over on a Disney space opera that’s going through production troubles…
