Production for the third instalment in Marvel Studios’ Guardians of the Galaxy franchise has been put on hold, according to reports. Disney fired filmmaker James Gunn, who directed the previous films in the franchise, for his 10-year-old tweets about issues like paedophilia that resurfaced the internet recently. Ever since there have been speculations about finding a replacement and are yet to make an official announcement.
A few leading media organisations have reported that Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi recently had a meeting with Marvel, but it is unclear what project was discussed. Reports said that crewmembers, which is, at this stage, a small group that was prepping for pre-production, are being dismissed and are free to look for new work.
The principal photography of the project was scheduled to start in early 2019 and was to have gone into full pre-production mode this year. Disney is reportedly keeping Gunn on board as a writer to use his script but will look for a new director. The controversial firing got the cast to write an open letter asking the studio to reinstate Gunn. However, despite fan backlash and the petition from the core Guardians cast, Disney stuck to its decision to fire Gunn.
The most vocal of the Guardians cast has certainly been retired professional wrestler Dave Bautista, who plays Drax in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He has tweeted about his displeasure about Gunn’s firing. He further amplified criticism of American writer Mike Cernovich, largely responsible for getting Disney to pay attention and eventually react to Gunn’s old tweets.