It appears James Gunn’s tenure as director/shepherd of the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise is well and truly over.
Variety is reporting today that, despite the mass outcry and that frank open letter from core cast members like Chris Pratt and Zoe Saldana, Disney is unlikely to reinstate Gunn as director on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 as his incendiary tweets from yesteryear “are not in line with the company’s family-friendly image.”
To his credit, James Gunn re-apologized (but failed to delete) the disturbing tweets, which made light of rape and pedophilia, but Variety’s latest scoop is pretty damning, and states that the general feeling within Disney and Marvel Studios is that both parties have severed ties with Gunn once and for all.
This raises another question: will Pratt and his ragtag crew reprise their roles for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3? Almost certainly, as every star is still under contract and may face legal repercussions if they choose to walk.
The studio recognized that Guardians cast members such as Chris Pratt and Zoe Saldana stopped short of threatening to quit the series, but there is widespread belief that the actors will show up for future installments, regardless of their personal feelings about Gunn. For one thing, most are under contract and would face legal action if they opted out of a sequel.
Today’s update ends on a somewhat troubling note: Disney reportedly “feels no pressure” to locate James Gunn’s successor, and is more than willing to bid its time and push that January start date for Guardians 3 further into 2019. Assuming that is indeed the case, the threequel’s tentative May 2020 release window is no longer a sure thing.