Hey, did you hear the news? James Gunn was fired, and remains fired, from “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.” Of course, you have. Unless you’ve been living under a rock for a little over a month, you have read countless articles about how Gunn paid the price for some decade-old tweets that resurfaced after a right-wing-leaning group went on a witch hunt. Well, now comes word that the controversial, highly-debated dismissal might spell doom for some characters in “Avengers 4.”
“But how is that possible?!” you might say. According to ‘Guardians’ cast member, and the reigning president of the James Gunn fan club, Dave Bautista, while most of the upcoming ‘Avengers’ film has been in the can for a while, with reshoots looming, the current state of ‘Guardians 3’ (you know, with it being on indefinite hold and all) could mean that Marvel Studios changes up the ending of the big superhero epic.
Speaking to Digital Spy, Bautista said, “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.”
You don’t have to be a big comic book dork like myself to know what Bautista is alluding to here. Clearly, he wants people to know that original plans were for most, if not all, of our favorite Guardians of the Galaxy would survive the fourth ‘Avengers’ flick. However, with no immediate plans for a third ‘Guardians,’ or at least with those plans potentially changing heavily in light of the controversy, the fates of our beloved space-faring heroes could be up in the air.
Maybe Star-Lord goes back to Earth? Maybe Drax pays the ultimate price fighting Thanos (which would fit the story, and make sense considering Bautista’s comments)? Or perhaps they use the end of “Avengers 4” to reboot the Guardians, leaving only Rocket and Groot remaining (as we hypothesized)?
Obviously, Bautista is talking a bit out of school, considering he’s just speculating and doesn’t know any of these answers. Either way, it’s clear the actor is starting to come to terms with his potential MCU fate being up in the air. That doesn’t mean he’s backing down from any recent anti-Disney comments, however. He still credits Gunn for his blossoming acting career.
“I love James. James really changed my life, so it’s a personal thing too,” the actor said on “The Jonathan Ross Show” (via CBR).
Bautista described struggling early in his acting career, “I struggled, I starved for three years, I could barely get a job. There were a few people who believed in me along the way, but James was the one who really changed the course of my life.”
Luckily for fans, we won’t have to wait long to find out what fates await our favorite Marvel heroes, as “Avengers 4” is set to release in April 2019.