Rumor Control: Taika Waititi Will Not Direct 'Guardians Of The Galaxy 3' [TCA 2019]

When Disney fired James Gunn from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 over old, offensive tweets, one of the rumors was that Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi could take over. It made sense since Waititi brought comedy to the Thor franchise and seemed like a good fit. Marvel also asked Adam McKay to consider Guardians 3. But today, Waititi told the TCA he is definitely not going to helm Guardians of the Galaxy 3."No, no, not doing that movie," Waititi said after a panel for the FX TV adaptation of his 2014 comedy What We Do In the Shadows."I'm hanging out with them [Marvel] still, hanging out with those guys and talking about new stuff. I don't know what it might be yet, but I want to do another movie with them."The firing was complicated for all involved with Guardians of the Galaxy. Cast members took various positions, with Chris Pratt saying he prayed on it and Dave Bautista being outspokenly against the firing and threatening to quit the film. Waititi said he never actually talked about Guardians of the Galaxy 3 with Marvel."I didn't," Waititi said. "For me, those are James's films. Going into something like that which has got his stamp all over it would feel like going into someone's house and going, 'Hey, I'm your new dad and this is how we make peanut butter sandwiches now.' It just feels kind of awkward. I just wouldn't know how to follow up those two films because those are his babies."Currently, Guardians of the Galaxy 3 is off Marvel's slate. Gunn apologized for his old tweets and accepted Disney's decision. He has moved on to direct Suicide Squad 2 for Warner Bros. We'll have more on the What We Do In the Shadows series later.