Guardians Of The Galaxy 3: 6 Directors Who Could Replace James Gunn

5. Adam McKay

The Big Short Adam McKay Ryan Gosling
Paramount

Known For: Ant-Man (writer), Anchorman, The Big Short

Why He's Right For The Job: With his screenplay credit on 2015's Ant-Man and his background with comedy movies like Anchorman, Talladega Nights and The Other Guys, McKay is well-equipped to bring that signature Marvel humour - something we now expect from the MCU - to the Guardians franchise.

He's also a big comic-book fan, and even signed on to direct an adaptation of Irredeemable in 2016, but the project stalled. That particular comic is quite edgy and off-kilter, showing that McKay is interested in making movies that are as irreverent and subversive as possible, something that Guardians can definitely claim to be.

Chances Of It Happening: Oscar-winner Adam McKay would be an expensive hire for Marvel, but the fact that he chose to work on Irredeemable after he won his statue proves that he isn't just going to stick with serious awards fare.

Ant-Man and Guardians are similarly offbeat in tone and humour, and with McKay already having experience working within the Marvel sandbox, it's easy to imagine him slotting neatly into the production of Vol. 3. Unfortunately, a jam-packed upcoming schedule could complicate things. 5/10

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Danny has been with WhatCulture for over ten years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. In 2022, he took charge of WhoCulture and has grown it into the biggest Doctor Who channel on YouTube, and one of the biggest Doctor Who communities on the web full-stop. He has been writing and video editing since his early teens, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers, off the back of a burning obsession with the Matt Smith era of the show. Like many his age, he first got into Doctor Who with the 2005 revival, but has since gone back and fallen in love with the classic years too. If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order, or to give you a random factoid about the making of Gridlock, Danny is the person to ask!