In a surprising bit of news, it has been confirmed that James Gunn has been rehired to direct Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 by Marvel Studios. This immediately raises the question, however, and what this means for his being the writer and director on The Suicide Squad. It seems that is intact and his new contract states he can not begin the third Guardians film until he completes The Suicide Squad.
According to the report from Deadline – which was confirmed with Marvel Studios and James Gunn’s camp – Walt Disney Studios president Alan Horn met with Gunn on multiple occasions to discuss what had led to his firing. For those that may not recall, Gunn was fired from Marvel last summer when some old tweets he had made resurfaced. Gunn expressed remorse over the tweets, and through his meetings with Horn reportedly showed those were not who he was anymore.
Horn decided to reverse the decision to fire Gunn, but there was now a small hiccup in the process. During his time away from Marvel he had signed on to write and direct The Suicide Squad for Warner Bros. The agreement that was reached was that Gunn will complete production on that film before he begins anything on the third Guardians film.
With The Suicide Squad due on Aug. 6, 2021, that should mean Guardians will probably not hit theaters until any earlier than 2023 at this stage. The script was completed before Gunn was fired, so at least some work may be able to move forward without Gunn being involved.
Now, lets see how someone handles working in both camps!
UPDATE: James Gunn has released a statement via his Twitter account.
— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) March 15, 2019
SOURCE: Deadline
