Which MCU Film Will Replace Guardians 3 On Marvel's Phase 4 Slate?

A month after writer-director James Gunn was fired from Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3 due to offensive tweets from the filmmaker's past resurfacing and being exploited by alt-right detractors, the Marvel Cinematic Universe sequel's production has officially been delayed for the foreseeable future while Marvel Studios searches for a new direction for its cosmic franchise. The film had been expected to begin principal photography in January, becoming the second MCU film confirmed for Phase 4 following the production of Spider-Man: Far from Home which is currently filming in England. With Guardians' postponement, that leaves a sizable gap in Marvel's production schedule leaving the glaring question: What film will the studio move up to replace it?

Historically, Marvel Studios had announced its upcoming production slates years in advance, but the studio has kept its post-Avengers 4 plans under wraps in an effort not to reveal how the Infinity War sequel will ultimately unfold. While a new film moving up several months to take Guardians of the Galaxy's production slot is a tall order, the studio will more than likely accelerating production on at least one film as to not lose the 2020 release date set. With that in mind, there are four strong candidates to take the production window.

The most likely candidate to move into production next would be a Doctor Strange sequel. Scott Derrickson, who directed and co-wrote the original 2016 film, has confirmed he's tentatively attached to return to helm a sequel though details on how far the film has progressed in pre-production are still unknown.

The film was rumored to begin principal photography next June in London, but last week, new reports arose indicating production has been moved up to the spring, with Benedict Cumberbatch receiving a significant pay raise to reprise the role after his scene-stealing performance in this year's Avengers: Infinity War. Given the gap created by Guardians of the Galaxy's delay, Doctor Strange's production being accelerated by several months may signal a shift designed to replace Gunn's planned project.

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The next probable candidate would be the long-rumored Black Widow solo film. While still not officially confirmed by Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige like all of the studio's Phase 4 films, the solo film has reportedly signed Cate Shortland (Berlin Syndrome) to direct from a script written by Jac Schaeffer (The Hustle). With the project having a director and writer attached, this puts the planned prequel much further along in pre-production than other rumored projects from the studio.

A more out-of-left-field option is would see Marvel take the opportunity to introduce a new property to the MCU entirely. While Disney is gaining classic Marvel properties like the X-Men and Fantastic Four as part of their acquisition deal with Fox, the planned acquisition isn't expected to be finalized until the summer of 2019. Instead, the next new property Marvel is expected to launch is a film based on Jack Kirby's Eternals.

The titular race is an evolutionary offshoot of humanity complete with super powers resulting genetic experiments from the Celestials, an ancient omnipotent race first introduced to the MCU in the Guardians of the Galaxy films. The planned adaptation had signed Matthew and Ryan Firpo (Ruin) in May to write the screenplay, leaving the next major step for the project to sign a director should the studio decide to move forward.

Finally, perhaps Marvel isn't planning to replace a third Guardians of the Galaxy film with any other production at all. Before his firing, Gunn had turned in a script for the planned production, and while there have been conflicting reports as to whether Marvel will use it following his departure, it does offer a strong potential direction for the sequel to take. This past week, news broke that Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi had met with Marvel Studios to discuss helming a new film for the studio. Conventional expectation would suggest Waititi may be tapped to direct a fourth Thor film but, with the New Zealand filmmaker's background in comedy and Ragnarok's increased focus on the cosmic side of the MCU, perhaps Waititi is the most logical replacement for Gunn.

Since the release of Infinity War, Marvel Studios has remained incredibly tight-lipped about its future plans. With Captain Marvel set to make her debut in March followed by Avengers 4 in May, the only film officially confirmed for Phase 4 is Spider-Man: Far from Home. While the studio has plenty of films in various stages of development, the delay of Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3 six months before the planned start of principal photography means the production schedule will see a significant amount of rescheduling. However, even though the MCU's plans aren't public, it's a sure bet the studio has a multitude of options to take Star-Lord, Gamora and the rest of the team's place, if only for a little while.