Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

Draft

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is an upcoming film. It was expected to be released in 2020. However, due to the termination and re-hire of employment of director James Gunn, it is expected to enter production in 2021.

Cast

 * Chris Pratt as Peter Quill / Star-Lord: The half-human, half-Celestial leader of the Guardians of the Galaxy who was abducted from Earth as a child and raised by a group of alien thieves and smugglers called the Ravagers.


 * Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer: A member of the Guardians and highly skilled warrior in search for vengeance against Thanos for his family's slaughter.


 * Pom Klementieff as Mantis: A member of the Guardians with empathic powers.

Initial work
In November 2014, James Gunn stated that, in addition to having the "basic story" for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 while working on the first film, he also had ideas for a potential third film.Despite this, he was unsure in June 2015 if he would be involved with a third Guardians film, saying it would depend on how he felt after making Vol. 2. In April 2016, Marvel Studios president and producer Kevin Feige said that a third Guardians film was "certainly" planned for the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) in "2020 and beyond". In March 2017, Gunn stated there would be a third film "for sure. We're trying to figure it out," also adding, "There are no specific plans for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. But we know unless something goes horribly—which is always possible, you never know—I think that Marvel would want to make another movie." He also reiterated that he had not decided whether he would be directing the film, and that he was going to figure out his involvement and his next project "over the next couple of weeks." Part of Gunn's reluctance to return to the film came from not wanting to work on it without Michael Rooker, who portrayed Yondu Udonta in the previous two films and died in Vol. 2.

The following month, Gunn announced that he would return to write and direct Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. He said the film would be set after Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame and would "conclude the story of this iteration of the Guardians of the Galaxy, and help catapult both old and new Marvel characters into the next ten years and beyond." He also felt that the three Guardians films would "work together as a whole," telling one story, saying, "I'm tying a lot of stuff together in the third film [from the previous two]. We get a lot of answers on a lot of different things". Gunn also planned to work with Marvel on the future of the "Marvel Cosmic Universe". He was set to begin work on Vol. 3 shortly after completing his work as exectuive producer and consultant on Infinity War. On returning for the third film, Gunn said, "I wouldn't have said yes if I didn't have a fairly clear idea of where we were going and what we were going to do. I'm not a guy that's just going to do it if I don’t have a vision for it."

After originally including Adam Warlock in his script treatment for Vol. 2, Gunn and Feige noted the importance of the character on the cosmic side of the MCU and hinted that he would make an appearance in Vol. 3. In May 2017, after the release of Vol. 2, Gunn said he would be creating the third film "over the next three years", and confirmed that Pom Klementieff would reprise her role as Mantis. He also intended to have Elizabeth Debicki reprise her role as Ayesha. By mid-June, Gunn had completed the first draft of his script treatment for the third film, and was considering changing a piece of character info he placed in the background of the mugshot sequence in the first film when the Guardians are captured by the Nova Corps. In September, Gunn reiterated that Vol. 3 would be released "in a little under three years", indicating a 2020 release. At the end of February 2018, Gunn planned to meet with Mark Hamill about possibly appearing in the film. In April, Chris Pratt was set to reprise his role as Peter Quill / Star-Lord, and the following month, Dave Bautista confirmed that he would reprise his role as Drax the Destroyer. Marvel received the completed first draft of the screenplay from Gunn by the end of June, ahead of the beginning of official pre-production on the film.

Firing of James Gunn
On July 20, 2018, Disney and Marvel severed ties with Gunn after conservative commentators began circulating old controversial tweets surrounding topics such as rape and pedophilia, and called for his firing. Walt Disney Studios chairman Alan Horn stated, "The offensive attitudes and statements discovered on James' Twitter feed are indefensible and inconsistent with our studio's values, and we have severed our business relationship with him." While not part of the decision to fire Gunn, The Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger supported the "unanimous decision" from the various executives at Marvel and Walt Disney Studios. In response, Gunn stated in a series of tweets that when he started his career he was "making movies and telling jokes that were outrageous and taboo" but felt as he has "developed as a person, so has my work and my humor." He continued, "It’s not to say I’m better, but I am very, very different than I was a few years ago; today I try to root my work in love and connection and less in anger. My days saying something just because it’s shocking and trying to get a reaction are over." In a separate statement, Gunn said the tweets at the time were "totally failed and unfortunate efforts to be provocative", adding "I understand and accept the business decisions taken today. Even these many years later, I take full responsibility for the way I conducted myself then."

In response to the firing, many of the Guardians cast members tweeted support for Gunn. Rooker decided to leave Twitter, while fans signed an online petition asking for Gunn be reinstated which received over 300,000 signatures. The firing also garnered reaction from other Hollywood personalities, such as actress Selma Blair and comedian Bobcat Goldthwait, and inspired opinion pieces on the firing and how it would affect Hollywood from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and news organizations such as The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, Deadline Hollywood, and Forbes. On July 30, the cast of the Guardians of the Galaxy films, including Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Bautista, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Sean Gunn, Klementieff, Rooker, and Karen Gillan, issued a statement in support of James Gunn, saying, "We fully support James Gunn. We were all shocked by his abrupt firing last week and have intentionally waited these ten days to respond in order to think, pray, listen, and discuss. In that time, we've been encouraged by the outpouring of support from fans and members of the media who wish to see James reinstated as director of Volume 3 as well as discouraged by those so easily duped into believing the many outlandish conspiracy theories surrounding him." Despite this and the notable "vociferous support" Gunn received, Variety reported that Disney was not planning to rehire him as the jokes were "unacceptable in the #MeToo era and are not in line with Disney's family-friendly image." Variety continued that, despite rumors established Marvel directors such as Jon Favreau, Taika Waititi, or the Russo brothers might replace Gunn, Marvel had yet to meet with any other director, and would most likely hire someone new. In early August, Bautista said that he would fulfil his contract and appear in the film as long as Marvel chose to use Gunn's existing script.

Disney and Marvel still wanted to "move forward quickly" on the film, and were soon confirmed to be using Gunn's script for the film. This, combined with the fact that Gunn did not breach his contract since the tweets were written years before he signed on to the film, had led to "complicated negotiations" between Gunn and Disney over his exit settlement. Gunn was expected to be paid $7–10 million or more, and there was some hope that the negotiations could lead to him eventually returning in some capacity, "even if it’s to develop and direct another Marvel movie". Gunn would be free to move on to new projects following the settlement, with other major studios interested in hiring him, including Warner Bros. for their rival superhero franchise. During this time, executives at Marvel Studios began "back channel conversations" with Disney in an attempt to find a compromise that could lead to Gunn returning to the film in some way. This "eleventh hour" effort from Marvel was inspired by the statements from the film's cast. In mid-August, Gunn met with Horn following a strong push from Gunn's talent agency for him to be given a second chance. Despite this and the fact that the meeting was described as "civil and professional", Horn only took the meeting as a courtesy and used it to reaffirm Disney's decision to fire Gunn, with no plans to rehire him.

Later in August, the small crew that was preparing for pre-production were dismissed as production of the film was postponed so Marvel and Disney could find a director to replace Gunn. Pre-production was to have begun by the end of 2018, with principal photography set for January or February 2019. At this time, Bautista was unsure if he would return for the film, as he did not know if he would "want to work for Disney" given how they handled the firing of Gunn. In late September, James Gunn's brother Sean, who played Kraglin and provided motion capture for Rocket in the previous Guardians films, reiterated that Disney still intended on making the film with James' script, but had not revealed to the cast when production may continue. Sean added that he had been preparing to reprise his roles for the third film before his brother's firing. At the end of the month, Cooper was asked if he would consider directing Vol. 3 after the success of his directorial debut A Star Is Born, but said that he "could never imagine" directing a film that he did not write. By mid-October, James Gunn had completed his exit settlement with Disney and was set to write and potentially direct Suicide Squad 2 for Warner Bros.

New work
In October 2018, the film was confirmed to have no scheduled release date, and its planned production date was moved to February 2021. Feige also confirmed development of the film had been put on hold. In December, after working with Marvel Studios on the script for Ant-Man (2015), Adam McKay stated that he was willing to work with the studio again and had discussed taking over as director for Vol. 3 with Feige. The next month, Feige reiterated that the studio still planned to make the film. In March 2019, Disney and Marvel Studios reversed course and rehired Gunn as director of the film. Deadline Hollywood noted this decision was made easier given "Marvel Studios never met with or considered any other director for" the film. Marvel planned to begin production on the film after Gunn completed his work for The Suicide Squad.

Filming
Principal photography is expected to begin in February 2021, using the working title Hot Christmas.