The dust has settled. After weeks of speculating and reading varying reports on the fate of James Gunn and his working relationship with Marvel Studios and Disney, we now have word from the folks at Variety that the supposed Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 director will NOT be returning to helm the final film in his trilogy.
A courtesy meeting was held a few days ago between Disney chairman Alan Horn, Gunn, and his reps which ended up unfruitful despite being civil and professional, according to Variety. Absent from that meeting was our lord and savior Kevin Feige, who happened to be out of the town when the meeting was set. Last we heard, Feige was actively looking for a compromise with Disney in order to bring back Gunn to the fold in some capacity. This may not necessarily be the case as Feige signed off on Disney’s decision.
Once Feige returns to town, an intensive director search for Vol. 3 will kick-off. Variety says that Gunn’s Vol. 3 script will likely be used as the template for the film but will have the director they bring in to polish it ” in order to add their stamp to the project.”
Source: Variety