As things stand, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is in stasis.
Without a director at the helm – we have James Gunn to thank for that – the MCU’s next cosmic team-up movie has irrefutably stalled in development, as Disney begins casting the net in search of Gunn’s replacement.
Per Variety, the Mouse House is said to be mulling over its mystery shortlist, which purportedly includes a bunch of MCU stalwarts like Jon Favreau (Iron Man), Taika Waititi (Thor: Ragnarok) and the Russo Brothers, who are currently in the midst of post-production on Avengers 4.
That may well be true – and, frankly, we would have no trouble making a case for each candidate – but it seems that Disney may expand its search beyond Marvel’s pool of frequent collaborators to find a “director with the kind of offbeat sensibility to handle the comic book franchise.”
It should be noted that Variety’s report alludes to the fact that Disney’s yet to meet with any potential replacements, but one thing’s immediately clear: in accordance with its zero-tolerance policy, the Mouse House won’t be collaborating with James Gunn, whose tenure in the MCU came to an abrupt and rather shocking end almost two weeks ago.
A script was reportedly in place, and everyone expected the Guardians of the Galaxy to be back in Atlanta by January 2019, but that’s no longer the case.
If and when Disney locates Gunn’s successor, he/she will likely tinker with the screenplay, pushing everything back by at least a few weeks. Should that hold true, then this delay will surely have a knock-on effect on that tentative May 2020 release window for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which is no longer a sure thing. Not by a long shot.
