In a bizarre turn of events, it looks like James Gunn may indeed be working with Marvel again in the future. Just not on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. According to a new report, Disney and Gunn are still working out some kinks as a result of the studio's decision to fire him. With those talks ongoing, there are multiple sources that say the studio hopes those talks could result in Gunn returning to work with Marvel Studios in some fashion in the future.

This comes as a pretty unexpected twist in the ongoing drama surrounding Disney's decision to fire James Gunn after several old tweets the filmmaker posted years ago began circulating online again. Disney chairman Alan Horn called the statements, which make light of topics like 9/11 and pedophilia, "indefensible." True as that may be in the eyes of many, quite a few people around Hollywood, including the entirety of the core Guardians cast, have come out in defense of Gunn since, calling for him to be reinstated as director of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Dave Bautista even recently threatened to quit if the studio doesn't use Gunn's script.

This new report claims that, not only is Disney still planning on using his script, which has complicated the negotiations surrounding James Gunn's exit, but that two different sources say the studio hopes to work with him again in the future, possibly on a different Marvel movie. Considering that they're going to stick to their guns, or so it would seem, when it comes to not having him direct Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, it's a bizarre thing to consider. One unnamed source close to the situation had this to say.

"An end-all verdict hasn't been issued and conversations with Marvel are still ongoing."

The obvious question is, why would Disney not rehire James Gunn for Guardians 3, but hope to work with him on another Marvel movie down the line? It's peculiar, no doubt. There's also the matter of whether or not Gunn would even want to work with Disney again after they were so quick to fire him. Hence, these talks are probably pretty delicate. The report also notes that Gunn is likely to be paid $10 million or more by the studio, since he hadn't actually violated the terms of his contract.

It should be noted that no other directors names have come up officially as a possible replacement for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which had previously been scheduled to enter production in January. Other studios, such as Warner Bros., are said to be eager to get James Gunn on board for a major project once his exit from Disney is complete. He's a talented and commercially successful filmmaker who a lot of people are in support of, despite some very questionable statements made by him in the past. It will be very interesting to see how this all turns out once the dust finally settles. This news comes to us courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter.