Photo: Gage Skidmore
This past Friday, just as Comic-Con International in San Diego was beginning to ramp up, fans were shocked to learn that James Gunn, father of the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, had been fired as the director of the upcoming third film due to a series of near-decade-old offensive tweets being unearthed.
Of course, we here at Epicstream aren’t going to argue about the moral and ethical implications of the situation or scrutinize Disney’s business practices. Instead, we’ll simply try to move forward. So, with that in mind, here are our picks for five directors who could replace James Gunn on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3:
Nicole Perlman
Photo: Ewen Roberts
If the name Nicole Perlman doesn’t ring any bells, it’s likely because she doesn’t have any directorial credits to her name. However, not only did she co-write the first GotG film with James Gunn, but she also has a hand in both Captain Marvel and the recently announced Black Widow movie, in addition to serving as a script consultant on Thor. Now, the chances of Marvel Studios handing off one of its most popular properties to a first-time director are admittedly slim, but given the fact that Perlman is no stranger to both the GotG franchise and the MCU as a whole, it’s still a possibility.
Joe & Anthony Russo
Photo: Gage Skidmore
Speaking of the MCU as a whole, we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention the director duo that currently has four Marvel Studios films under its belt: Joe and Anthony Russo. Clearly, Kevin Feige and company have a lot of faith in the Russos, as they went from helming the last two Captain America films to being given the keys to the culmination of what the studio’s been building towards for the past decade with Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers 4. Much like Ron Howard taking over on Solo: A Star Wars Story, the Russos would definitely be a “safe” choice for Disney and Marvel.
Joss Whedon
Photo: Gage Skidmore
This might not be the most popular choice, given the lackluster fan response to 2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron, but few can deny Joss Whedon’s ability to balance humor and action within an ensemble cast. After all, he managed to strike just the right chord with the first Avengers film, and it certainly wouldn’t hurt to bring in someone with a proven track record when it comes to superhero team films (again, despite the decided drop in quality between The Avengers and Age of Ultron). As long as Marvel isn’t afraid to rein him in (and he isn’t afraid to be reined in), Whedon could make a fine addition to the GotG franchise.
Phil Lord & Chris Miller
Photo: Gage Skidmore
Since we brought up Solo: A Star Wars Story earlier, we might as well bring up the two directors that Ron Howard replaced on that film: Phil Lord and Chris Miller. Lord and Miller are no strangers to comedy, as evidenced by 21 and 22 Jump Street and The Lego Movie. The latter, in particular, is similar to the type of comedy fans have grown accustomed to in the GotG films, so it wouldn’t be an entirely drastic departure in terms of tone. Plus, while Lord and Miller are by no means “action” directors, they can certainly handle it.
Taika Waititi
This is arguably the most popular choice among fans. Taika Waititi blew audiences away with Thor: Ragnarok, which breathed new life into what many considered the MCU’s least popular solo franchise. His ability to blend pulse-pounding action with laugh-out-loud humor is exactly the sort of thing that made the first two GotG films so successful, and with no future Thor films in the works at this time, bringing Waititi over to the MCU’s ragtag band of cosmic misfits is simply a no-brainer.