Taika Waititi has ruled out directing ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’.
The future of the third movie in the sci-fi franchise has been unclear following director-and-writer James Gunn being fired from the Marvel Cinematic Universe movie by bosses at Disney following the emergence of old Twitter posts he made in which he joked about topics such as rape and child abuse.
Although Gunn has penned a script for the third instalment, a new director is yet to be found.
Waititi – who helmed 2017’s ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ and 2011’s ‘Green Lantern’ – has said he’s not the man for the job, though he is in talks to work with Marvel again.
According to Deadline, he said: "I’m still hanging out with those [Marvel] and talking about new stuff. I want to do another movie with them."
When pressed on whether he had been in discussions to replace Gunn, he replied: "I didn’t really. 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."
Chris Pratt – who plays Star-Lord in the movies – previously "promised" there will be a new chapter in the superhero franchise but admitted he didn’t know "exactly what that’s going to look like".
He said: "I promise there’ll be a third movie, I don’t know exactly what that’s going to look like, but I know everyone on board is just eager to give the fans what they want and wrap up a trilogy in a meaningful way."
Last year, Adam McKay confirmed that he was in talks with Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige about the possibility of helming the movie but didn’t say whether he will take on the role or not.
‘Vice’ filmmaker McKay said: "We’ve talked a little bit. Yeah. We were kicking around the idea of the Inhumans at one point. We’re always kind of talking. I think Feige is just the greatest and I think what they’re doing is amazing."
Although Gunn won’t be working on ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ again he has been in talks to direct DC Comics’ upcoming ‘Suicide Squad’ sequel after it was previously revealed he was writing the script for the flick.
The movie is also said to have been given the title, ‘The Suicide Squad’, and it looks likely to be a reboot of sorts, rather than a direct sequel.
Warner Bros. have penned the film in for an August 2021 release.
Taika Waititi won’t direct Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
