With James Gunn’s firing from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, it was inevitable that there would be some changes. The film has been put on indefinite hold while a search for a new director takes place, with the possibility they will want to start on a brand new script. The uncertainty surrounding the film isn’t isolated, either, as the characters are also involved in Avengers 4 (most of them are currently dust in the wind), and with reshoots coming some of them may not return.
Obviously, the one we all half-expect to stay dead is Drax, since star Dave Bautista has repeatedly needled Disney over their decision to fire Gunn. Speaking with Digital Spy, Bautista teases the possibility of changes to Avengers 4‘s ending because of the Gunn situation…
“It’s kind of a strange situation to be in now where we’ve lost our director for ‘Guardians.’ ’Guardians 3’ is really up in the air and I don’t know what they’re going to do with it. It’s on permanent hold for now, and that may make a difference in what they do with our characters in ‘Avengers 4.’ To be honest with you, right now I really don’t know.”
He continues, “But I know I’m in ‘Avengers 4.’ I’ve shot most of it already. I do have two days of reshoots. But other than that, I have some really great scenes that I hope they use. But I guess that it remains to be seen what they’ll do with the characters.”
To me this sounds like Bautista preparing his fans for the possibility that his time with Marvel may be coming to an end. He’s certainly talked his way out of their good graces if that’s the case. With the future of the Guardians franchise in doubt, we could see most if not all of the cast dispersed to other areas. Maybe Star-Lord becomes an Avenger? Rocket and Groot spinoff into a new team with Thor or something? Who knows? The cool thing is, the future of the MCU is so wide open that anything could happen.
