In an unexpected move that came months later than it probably should have, Disney has just announced that they have re-instated James Gunn as the director of Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 3. Deadline is reporting that despite public statements that Disney would not re-hire the director after a series of old tweets that he had apologized for several years prior were brought back to light again, Gunn continued to meet with Disney President Alan Horn on several occasions.
It seems that Gunn’s apology, as well as his unwillingness to go negative towards Disney helped heal internal rifts. At least that is the actual report. We’ve got a feeling it has something more to do with at least one member of the cast refusing to work on the film, the studio being able to find a reporter who was willing to direct Gunn’s script for the film, and the fact that Gunn had become an important resource for Marvel as they moved into a more Cosmic age of movies.
One of the ways that you can tell Disney was behind the 8-ball here is that they have stated that they are willing to delay filming of GOTG3 until Gunn completes production on his Warner Bros film, Suicide Squad 2. Now they just need to find a time when the increasingly popular cast of the film (Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, and Karen Gillan) are all available for long enough to handle production.