Marvel Studios Never Planned on Replacing James Gunn as Director of GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3

Last week the surprising and awesome news hit that James Gunn was being rehired by Marvel and Disney to direct Guardians of The Galaxy Vol. 3.

After the director was initially fired, there were all kinds of rumors regarding other directors that Marvel was meeting with to replace Gunn in the director’s chair. A couple of those filmmakers included Travis Knight (Bumblebee) and Taika Waititi (Thor: Ragnarok).

Well, it turns out that Marvel Studios never planned on replacing Gunn with another director. They always planned on bringing him back! In fact they made the deal to rehire last fall! THR explains:

In the weeks after firing Gunn, there was speculation around town about who could replace the filmmaker, with agents lining up clients but by mid-fall, any perceived search seemed to have petered out, with many thinking that the project was on the back burner. What almost no one knew was that Marvel and Disney had never undertaken a search and in fact became convinced he should be given a second chance. In the fall, Disney went back to Gunn and quietly made a deal, according to insiders.

I guess Marvel and Disney just wanted to let the dust settle before announcing that Gunn would return to direct the film. After the announcement was made, Gunn released the following statement, which broke his social media silence:

"I am tremendously grateful to every person out there who has supported me over the past few months.I am always learning and will continue to work at being the best human being I can be. I deeply appreciate Disney's decision and I am excited to continue making films that investigate the ties of love that bind us all. I have been, and continue to be incredibly humbled by your love and support. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. Love to you all."

It’s really interesting to see how this all played out because it played out in a way with an outcome that a lot of fans didn’t expect.