Disney Won't Rehire James Gunn For Guardians Of The Galaxy 3
So what happens now?
The last month has been a peculiar one for the folks at Marvel Studios. In the wake of James Gunn's sudden and unexpected firing from Guardians 3, voices across the industry have spoken up in his defence - including the Guardians cast themselves. Reports then also seemed to claim that Kevin Feige - the architect of the MCU - was fighting Gunn's corner in conversations with Alan Horn, but now it looks as though those claims were inaccurate.
Variety are reporting that Disney are standing "firm" in their decision to fire Gunn, even after the director held "clear the air" talks with Horn. The article also claims that, while Feige himself is out of town, he supports Disney in their decision to part ways with the director, who both wrote and directed Guardians of the Galaxy and its sequel.
News of Disney committing to their decision (which many saw as hasty to begin with anyway), will no doubt disappoint those who'd hoped to see Gunn return to the franchise. They can, however, perhaps take solace in the fact that Disney are still looking to use the director's script, albeit with the caveat that anyone coming in to replace him will "need to put a polish on it in order to add their stamp to the project".
And so it looks as though Marvel Studios will begin to ratchet up their efforts to find a replacement in the coming weeks. Whoever does hop aboard will be taking on a sequel with a lot of baggage now, sadly - and though there are still plenty of reasons to look forward to the next entry in the franchise, one can't help but feel we'll be unpacking the consequences of Disney's decision for years to come.