If rumours are to be believed, Marvel Studios may be zeroing in on a replacement for James Gunn on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, with The Disinsider reporting that Kubo and the Two Strings helmer Travis Knight is in contention to replace Gunn in the director’s chair.
Knight – whose next film, the Transformers spinoff Bumblebee, is set for release this December – was a contender for the directing gig on The Eternals prior to the appointment of Chloe Zhao (The Rider), and so he’s definitely a filmmaker on Marvel’s radar.
It had been said that Disney and Marvel are in no hurry to find a new director for Guardians Vol. 3, but Knight may very well find himself in high demand come December given the excitement that the marketing for Bumblebee has been generating, and so it’s certainly possible that they’d look to have him locked in before then if he is indeed their pick to succeed Gunn.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 was originally scheduled to begin production early in the New Year for release in 2020, but the project was delayed indefinitely by Marvel following James Gunn’s dismissal over his past social media activity.
Gunn has since made the jump to the DC Extended Universe to write and potentially direct Suicide Squad 2, although reports have suggested that his script will still be used for Guardians Vol. 3 (which will likely please Dave Bautista, who threatened to walk away from the MCU if that wasn’t the case).
