‘Thor: Ragnarok’ Director Taika Waititi Won’t Direct ‘Guardians Of The Galaxy: Vol 3’: ‘That’s James’ Film’

Taika Waititi directed the Marvel Cinematic Universe masterpiece, Thor: Ragnarok, with his typical New Zealander humor in 2017. Ever since, fans of the franchise have been asking whether or not the Kiwi will be returning to direct another Marvel film anytime soon.

Those questions have only intensified since the controversy surrounding James Gunn resulted in his dismissal as the director of the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol 3. But now Waititi has addressed those rumors, saying without doubt that he won’t be taking over that role, according to Comic Book.

Waititi was speaking at FX’s Television Critics of America when he made the announcement.

“Nope. No, not doing that movie. For me, those are James (Gunn)’s films. Going into something like that with his stamp all over his films, would be like going into someone’s house and saying ‘Hey, I’m your new dad, and this is how we make peanut butter sandwiches now.’ It feels kind of awkward.”

Despite his unwillingness to take over Gunn’s film, he has expressed his desire to direct another Marvel film at some point in his career. In the meantime, while he waits for the call from Marvel Studios, he has been working on Jon Favreau’s The Mandalorian for Disney+.

At today’s FX #TCA19 today, Taika Waititi said he’s definitely not directing 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.,' “however I’m still hanging out with those guys (Marvel) and talking about new stuff” https://t.co/VJEaQ3fnbc

— Deadline Hollywood (@DEADLINE) February 4, 2019

The lack of a director for Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol 3 has resulted in the expected release date of the film being pushed back indefinitely. Fortunately for Marvel fans, Chris Pratt, who plays one of the leads in the film, has confirmed that the movie will definitely still be happening without Gunn.

Waititi’s response to the rumors that he has been taking over the director’s seat for the third Guardians of the Galaxy film could also explain why no one else has accepted when asked to fill the role. Gunn directed the first two films, and was already confirmed as the director for the third film before the scandal hit.

The entire controversy surrounding Gunn was about old tweets of his that resurfaced, in which he made jokes about pedophilia and rape. Unsurprisingly, the tweets didn’t go down very well, resulting in his swift dismissal by Marvel’s owner, Disney. Gunn apologized for the poor taste in which he made the jokes, but it was too little too late to save his job.

Instead, Gunn has been touted to direct the second Suicide Squad film, set for release in 2021.