Who Could Replace James Gunn as Guardians of the Galaxy 3 Director?

At this point, we all have to accept that James Gunn is not going to return to direct Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Less than a year after his controversial firing, Warner Bros. and DC have already snatched up Gunn's talents to write and direct The Suicide Squad, which is said to be less a sequel to David Ayer's film and more a reboot. Considering The Suicide Squad's August 2021 release date is six months after Guardians 3's intended production start date, the schedules wouldn't line up, even if Disney management had a change of heart. Maybe Gunn is able to return to Marvel for another movie (Adam Warlock, perhaps?), but someone else is going to have to direct the final Guardians movie. But how do you make a movie that seemingly no one wants to direct?

Furthermore, why would you want to direct it? James Gunn is respected by his fellow filmmakers, and his firing was at best hypocritical. This is not a defense of his old, offensive tweets, which are bad enough you could reasonably argue Disney shouldn't have hired him in 2012 in the first place, but the fact that Disney management only took issue eight years later, after Gunn had stopped making such jokes and apologized for them, because certain conservative Twitter personalities feigned disingenuous outrage is certainly a chilling proposition. While Gunn has accepted the consequences of handing his script off to another director, it's understandable that most directors would feel weird about filling in for him.

The number of directors who've said no to the job just keeps growing. Paul Feig felt he'd be taking something away by directing, calling Guardians of the Galaxy "James' franchise." Rocket Raccoon actor and A Star is Born director Bradley Cooper has said doesn't want to direct anything he doesn't write himself. Travis Knight was at one time the studio's top pick, but he's disinterested in doing more sequels, his brief sojourn into franchise filmmaking with Bumblebee being a one-off to raise money for his stop-motion studio, Laika.

This past week, Edgar Wright, Chris Miller and Taika Waititi rejected Twitter suggestions to direct the film, all suggesting James Gunn make it instead. You could predict such a response from Wright and Miller, both members of the "fired by Disney" club from their time on Ant-Man and Solo, respectively. Waititi's response is a bigger surprise, since, after Thor: Ragnarok, many felt he was the best possible replacement for James Gunn. He was actually going to be one of the directors suggested in this article before he chimed in on Twitter! So, with all these resolute no's, who could possibly say yes to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and not completely mess it up? We have thoughts on five directors and directing teams who, in lieu of a James Gunn-directed sequel, could provide the next best thing.

THE RUSSOS

Guardians of the Galaxy in Avengers: Infinity War

First, we have to talk about the most obvious (some would say "most boring") choice. Anthony and Joe Russo are the only directors in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to handle the Guardians characters aside from Gunn thus far (though Gunn was heavily present in developing the Guardians scenes). They did a pretty great job with them, too. The Guardians-focused segments of Avengers: Infinity War are easily some of the film's liveliest and most entertaining. The Russo brothers clearly get these characters, and, working off Gunn's script, they could easily turn around a strong closing chapter to the trilogy.

What the Russos' plans with Marvel are after Endgame remain a mystery. After finishing Phase Three with a bang, they could feel like they'd accomplished everything they wanted to in that universe and might want to do something different. We know their next directing gig is going to be the PTSD drama Cherry, based off the bestseller by Nico Walker. Will they want to return to the MCU on Guardians 3, or have they already passed?

NEXT PAGE: Dees Rees Could be the Answer to the Marvel's Guardians Troubles

DEES REES

Of the mostly female directors in Marvel's rumored shortlist from October 2018, the most intriguing name mentioned was Dees Rees. Rees has been a clear rising talent in the film industry, going from the small indie Pariah to the HBO biopic Bessie to the Oscar-nominated Netflix epic Mudbound. If none of these outstanding credits scream "director of a Marvel movie," remember Rees also directed an episode of Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams and, when given the chance to do whatever she wanted for a Walmart commercial, made a lavish space opera. She's pretty much waiting for the chance to do that for a full feature.

In addition to her obvious talent, hiring Dees Rees would certainly save a lot of face for Disney. The big concern with Gunn's firing was that Disney was capitulating to the alt-right. There's zero chance that hiring a black lesbian director could be seen as "capitulating to the alt-right." The potential downside for Rees, however, is that, given this job's scrutiny, it's possible she could receive worse harassment than Gunn ever did.

MICHELLE MACLAREN

It's kind of weird that Michelle MacLaren hasn't got a movie made yet, is it not? She directed many of the best episodes of Breaking Bad and has touched practically every large-scale prestige TV series since, from Game of Thrones to The Walking Dead to Westworld. She almost directed Wonder Woman, but got replaced, and the two films she's currently signed on to, The Nightingale and Cowboy Ninja Viking, are dealing with production delays.

Cowboy Ninja Viking just so happens to star Chris Pratt, so she has an in with the cast of the Guardians movies, who will need to approve any new director choice after their outspoken opposition to Gunn's firing. MacLaren's one of the other promising names on Disney's shortlist, and feels like one of the more likely choices. It would also be a fair trade between WB/DC and Marvel, each picking up a director fired by the other studio.

THE WACHOWSKIS (AT LEAST ONE OF THEM)

News of the Wachowski sisters' retirement has been greatly exaggerated. Just this January, Lilly Wachowski became attached to co-write and co-direct a new TV series titled Work in Progress. Perhaps Lilly and Lana Wachowski aren't working together anymore, but at least Lilly is working, and one imagines Lana could be convinced to as well if given the right opportunity.

Either or both of the sisters would be awesome to have on board for Guardians 3. While it might seem unlikely that such idiosyncratic filmmakers would work within the Marvel machine, Gunn's Guardians films already stood as idiosyncratic among the rest of the MCU, and the Wachowskis could do wonders with the material. They know how to stage action amazingly, and the series' themes of found families are right up the Sense8 creators' alley. While the Wachowskis' work hasn't exactly been consistent, having them just direct Guardians 3 while keeping Gunn's script might do wonders to provide some focus.

KAREN GILLAN

Bradley Cooper isn't the only actor-turned-director among the Guardians cast. Karen Gillan, who plays Nebula in the MCU, has directed three shorts and one decently-reviewed indie feature, The Party's Just Beginning. Given the number of directors handed the reigns to major blockbusters after just one feature, it wouldn't be unprecedented for Gillan to take control of the ship for Guardians 3.

We don't even know if Nebula's going to be alive in the MCU post-Endgame, but if Gillan's no longer a star on-screen in the MCU, she might be excited about being active behind the scenes. We also imagine that, given how much the whole Guardians cast loves James Gunn, Gillan might also be able to consult with Gunn and keep her version of the film relatively close to his original vision.