The James Gunn saga continues as new reports reveal that Marvel Studios could be trashing the director's original Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 script to start fresh. Gunn announced back at the end of June that he had completed the script for the third installment in the Guardians franchise, declaring that it has "every bit of his heart" in it. However, this was before some of the director's political foes unearthed some old tasteless tweets that Gunn had posted, which resulted in Disney firing him from Guardians of the Galaxy 3.
According to the latest report, Disney severed all working ties with James Gunn, which many believe includes the Guardians of the Galaxy 3 script as well. Additionally, the production start date for the movie is now To Be Announced, where before it was supposed to begin shooting in early 2019. Gunn's name has been completely taken off of the project, including his screenwriting credit. Just by looking at the evidence, Marvel Studios may be looking for a new director and screenwriter for Guardians of the Galaxy 3.
This could prove to be a pretty big problem for a few reasons. First of all, the cast of Guardians of the Galaxy 3 have announced their support for James Gunn. Drax the Destroyer actor Dave Bautista has announced that he will quit the project if Marvel Studios decides to ditch Gunn's script. It's definitely not as easy as just up and quitting with contracts involved, but it could have a major effect on the performances in the third installment.
Quite possibly the biggest problem of not using James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy 3 script is that the director has stated several times that the movie helps to set up Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Not only could the standalone movie be delayed, but other projects within the MCU may have to be reconfigured and delayed as well. However, Marvel Studios has been very secretive about their upcoming plans, choosing to sit this year's San Diego Comic-Con out and wait for Phase 4 announcements next summer at the D23 Expo and Comic-Con.
Obviously, this has not been confirmed by Marvel Studios at this point in time, so they could actually be running ahead with James Gunn's Guardians 3 script. But, choosing to completely sever ties with the director and Dave Bautista announcing that he'll quit if another script is used certainly seems as if Gunn's script has already been trashed. There has been a tremendous uprising of MCU fans coming to Gunn's defense along with many in the entertainment community and even in the political world. With that being said, it's beginning to look like Marvel Studios is starting from square one with Guardians of the Galaxy 3. You can read more about James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy 3 script being ditched over at Geeks Worldwide.