James Gunn On Whether Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 4 Is Happening
James Gunn has spoken about his plans for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 4.
This article is more than 2 years old
According to James Gunn, the storyline he began with 2014’s Guardian of the Galaxy will conclude with the summer of 2023 release of Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3. But is Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 4 in the cards after that?
Also, according to Gunn, there is no “after that” for him. Gunn has noted time and again that Vol. 3 is it and that he has no aspirations to write and direct a Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 4. By the time Vol.3 hit movie theaters, Gunn will have spent the previous ten years of his writing/directing life within the comic book genre. While that’s not a bad way to go, he may be looking to change things up a bit. Or is he?
After all his grandstanding, Gunn has sorta kinda tossed a doubt or two during the interaction he was having with a fan on Gunn’s Twitter account. The fan asked Gunn if he’d consider Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 4 if given the chance and Gunn’s response was, “Me? Never say never but I see Vol 3 as the end of the Guardians’ story I started telling back with Vol 1.” His entire thread can be read below.
All of this comes on the heels of Guardians of the Galaxy co-star and fan-favorite Dave Bautista, who plays Drax, many times for laughs, coming out and telling folks that with Vol. 3, that will be it for his time as Drax. Not that the actual character is going anywhere, just the simple fact that he no longer will play the popular Guardian. His reasoning, like his Drax character, was quite humorous. “Drax isn’t going anywhere. He just won’t be played by this dude! by the time G3 comes out I’ll be 54 yrs old for gods sake! im expecting everything to start sagging any second now,” Bautista explained to his Twitter followers.
In a show of “I’ve got your back since you had mine”, Gunn responded to Bautista’s claim by stating, “There’s no Drax for me without you, buddy! You ARE the MCU’s Drax the Destroyer and, as far as I’m concerned, could never be replaced. And you have the right to do whatever you want with your acting choices!”
Dave Bautista was one of the first and by far the loudest actor to come out and back Gunn after he was fired by Disney for a number of offensive social media posts he had made before taking on the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie. The postings, which included “little boys” and where he liked them to touch him, as well as postings concerning rape, 9/11, the Holocaust, and AIDS. Most were all in poor taste and they led to Gunn’s dismissal from Disney.
Time and friends heal wounds, and this was the case for Gunn. He was brought back for his third time with his Guardians of the Galaxy bunch shortly after heading over to DC and rebooting their Suicide Squad.
If Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 4 is to happen, it wouldn’t be for some time, anyway. Vol.3 has yet to even go in front of the cameras. According to Bautista, there was a point in time where Gunn was even considering a Guardians spin-off that was to be a “Drax & Mantis” film that would co-star Pom Klementieff. As he explained to Digital Spy, “There were talks for a while about a Drax and Mantis film. It was really because it was James Gunn’s idea.” Bautista continued, “He really wanted to do a Drax and Mantis film. He laid it out to me. I thought it was such a brilliant idea, but I haven’t heard any follow-up from the studio. I don’t think they’re very interested, or it doesn’t fit into the way they have things mapped out. But other than that, no. I mean, as far as my obligations, I’ve got Guardians 3, and that’s probably going to be the end of Drax.”
For now, though, it seems like James Gunn is satisfied with calling it quits at the conclusion of Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3. But as with everything else in Hollywood, and it’s a line we’ve used many times before and one which Gunn perfectly stated – Never say never. While Gunn ponders his future with Guardians of the Galaxy, he will next give fans his version of the previously mentioned The Suicide Squad. Then Gunn plans to at least write the script for Wile E. Coyote, yes, based on the Looney Tunes cartoon character, and then he will take on the rebooted TV series Starsky and Hutch.
Stay tuned, more is sure to come from a “never say never” Vol. 4 as production begins to kick off on Vol. 3.
