The search for a director to helm Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 continues, but it won't be Taika Waititi who winds up with the gig when the search is over. The Thor: Ragnarok director emerged as a very popular choice shortly after James Gunn was fired by Disney last year after a series of old, offensive tweets resurfaced online. Since then, the sequel has had its production delayed as the studio figures out how best to proceed. Waititi, meanwhile, has officially taken himself out of the running.

Taika Waititi recently appeared at the Television Critics Association press tour in honor of his What We Do In the Shadows TV series. At one point, the subject of his possible involvement with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 came up. The filmmaker was firm in that he won't be taking on that project. However, he did reveal that he's still been chatting with Marvel about doing another movie at some point. Here's what he had to say about it.

"Nope. Not doing that movie. I'm hanging out with [Marvel] still. Talking about new stuff, but I don't know what that might be yet. I want to do another movie."

Sort of a mixed bag of good and bad news. Given the success of Thor: Ragnarok both critically and commercially, having Taika Waititi back for any Marvel movie would be exciting. It just won't be Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Speaking further on the topic, Waititi said that he didn't even actually meet with Marvel about it, and explained that he feels it's still a James Gunn movie.

"I didn't really. For me, that's James' film. Going into something like that, which has got his stamp all over it, it would feel like going into someone's house and saying 'Hey, I'm your new dad."

After James Gunn was fired, there was a massive outpouring of support from those around Hollywood, and from the cast. Many have voiced their desire to see Gunn re-hired by Disney and Marvel, but that's not going to happen. Taika Waititi even took to Twitter recently to suggest that Gunn get his old job back, alongside Edgar Wright and Chris Miller, who were replying to someone on Twitter, who suggested all three of them for the job. Replying to Wright and Miller, who suggested Gunn for the job, Waititi said the following.


"Agreed. James Gunn would bring a fresh energy and style that the first two films were lacking."

It's been made clear that certain directors will feel a sense of hesitation when it comes to taking on the project. James Gunn has since moved on to write and direct The Suicide Squad for Warner Bros. and DC. Originally, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 was going to shoot in January of this year, but production has been delayed indefinitely. Gunn had turned in a script, which Marvel will reportedly still be using. For the time being, the director search continues. This news was previously reported by The Wrap.

Ryan Scott