According to director James Gunn, he and Taika Waititi gave each other notes on Guardians of the Galaxy 3 and Thor: Love and Thunder. In 2014, Gunn’s first Guardians of the Galaxy film released, and the once unknown group of characters quickly became a giant part of the MCU. Gunn’s decisions to incorporate music so heavily and inject a great deal of humor alongside strong emotional moments even made a tree (Groot) one of the most popular characters in the MCU. After many setbacks, most notably Gunn’s firing from Disney, Guardians of the Galaxy 3 is finally expected to start filming this year and will hit theaters sometime in 2023.
Before fans see the cosmic heroes return for their third film, they’ll get see to Gunn’s band of “a-holes” in Waititi’s highly anticipated Thor: Love and Thunder. Although Waititi did not direct Thor from the beginning, similar to Gunn, he’s become synonymous with Thor after revitalizing the franchise by inserting his trademark comedic style to Thor: Ragnorak in 2017. Thor: Love and Thunder will see Chris Hemsworth return as Thor, Natalie Portman as Jane Foster, and in addition to other high profile names, the entire Guardians team (except for Zoe Saldana’s Gamora) will also appear in Waititi’s next Marvel project. Gunn has already revealed that he is consulting on how the Guardians characters are used in the upcoming phase 4 film, but he’s now informed fans that the directors even shared notes on their respective scripts.
During a short Q&A on Twitter, Gunn answered various questions ranging from the editing of The Suicide Squad, his favorite actors to work with, and of course, a little Guardians of the Galaxy. More specifically, a fan asked the director about his level of input on Thor: Love and Thunder. Check out Gunn’s response below:
The fact the two directors shared the scripts for their upcoming films, in addition to offering notes on their respective films, perhaps shouldn’t be a huge surprise to fans. The MCU is known for its shared universe, and now that Thor 4 comes before Guardians of the Galaxy 3, it’s important that Waititi doesn’t mess with the continuity. But it’s clear Gunn has a ton of faith in Waititi, rightfully so. The exchanging of “thoughts” between the two directors does also raise the question of how big a part Star-Lord and co. will play in the upcoming Thor film. The interactions between Thor and the Guardians were some of the highlights from the last two Avengers films, and Thor even leaves with the team at the end of Avengers: Endgame. Fans would not complain about more seeing more of Thor and Guardians on screen together. However, some fans have argued too much of the Guardians could hinder the film’s story.
Production is now underway for Thor 4 in Australia, and set photos have already come out, showing tweaks to the look of Chris Pratt’s Star-Lord, and also Nebula. It will be interesting to see what the Guardians bring to Love and Thunder and if they will play a part in helping Thor and co. battle Christian Bale’s Gorr The God Butcher. It will also be interesting to see if the director’s discussions will lead to Hemsworth’s Thor finding his way into Guardians of the Galaxy 3 after Thor: Love and Thunder.
Key Release Dates
Black Widow
Release Date:2021-07-09Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
Release Date:2021-09-03Eternals
Release Date:2021-11-05Doctor Strange In the Multiverse of Madness
Release Date:2022-05-06Thor: Love and Thunder
Release Date:2022-07-08Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Release Date:2022-11-11captain marvel 2
Release Date:2023-07-28