With the notable exception of Thor: The Dark World, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has very rarely been plagued by rumors of studio interference, which is incredibly ironic when you consider the accusation being leveled at James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
The filmmaker is currently splitting his time between both of Hollywood’s marquee superhero franchises, but he’ll be bidding farewell to the MCU in just a few short months when his band of cosmic misfits headline their long-awaited third movie. Several major DC projects have infamously been subject to the grubby fingerprints of executive meddling – most notably David Ayer’s Suicide Squad and Joss Whedon’s Justice League – which is something Gunn will be looking to eradicate for a more harmonious future.
That makes it fitting that the Peacemaker creator was forced to address and debunk chatter that Marvel had been getting a touch too involved in Vol. 3‘s post-production process, but as always, he was quick to shut down the internet hearsay.
Gunn has arguably been given a lot more creative freedom than the rest of the MCU’s filmmakers seeing as the Guardians have largely tended to stick to their own off-world corner of the mythology, but he was consulted by the writing teams behind Avengers: Infinity War, Endgame, and Thor: Love and Thunder to ensure the squad’s appearances were on-brand.
Given that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 marks the swansong for both the writer and director and several of his cast members, we’d expect him to be given almost free rein to cap off the series in style.
