Guardians of the Galaxy 3 Delay May Impact Avengers 4

Dave Bautista shares that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 being on hold indefinitely could have an impact on Avengers 4. Following the shockingfiring of director and writer James Gunn last monthafter his almost decade-old offensive tweets were unearthed, the status of the threequel has been in limbo. Not much is known regarding the plot of the film but the filmmaker was busy working on it before he was booted out of his job. Prior to that, however, Gunn confirmed that it will be set after the events of the still-untitled Marvel ensemble flick that will hit theaters next year.

The final chapter of the 22-film arc that the MCU has been treading for a year now, Marvel Studios remains tight lipped about the project. However, given where Avengers: Infinity War left things for the everybody, it's expected that the remaining heroes will gear up to take down Thanos once and for all in the hopes of restoring order in the galaxy. That said, it seems like the current situation with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 may indirectly affect how things go down in the Phase 3 capper.

Speaking with Digital Spy, Bautista got candid about the difficult situation he and his Guardians of the Galaxy co-stars are currently in with the departure of Gunn. Not one to mince his words, especially with regard to the issue at hand, the former-wrestler-turned-actor shared that while he finished filming his scenes for Avengers 4, he really doesn't know if they will be used in the final cut of the film.

''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.
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."

Since Gunn's scandal broke out, it's been regularly discussed how his non-involvement in the MCU moving forward will have a huge impact in the franchise as a whole. Not only is he strongly associated with the Guardians of the Galaxy brand, he was also poised to be a major creative force behind Marvel Studios' further exploration of the cosmos, which is believed to be the next evolution of the film series having films tackling The Eternals and Nova on their docket. And while it was never confirmed, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2's post-credit scene hinted that he was planning on finally introducing Adam Warlock on the big screen.

Considering that Avengers 4 was presumed to springboard Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3supposedly scheduled to roll out May of 2020before it was put on indefinite hold, it makes sense that Joe and Anthony Russo would have to make necessary narrative adjustments to leave Star-Lord and his team at a place that would be more aligned to whatever Marvel Studios may want to do in the threequel. While Gunn's script is reportedly still going to be used, tweaks and rewrites should be expected as whoever takes over the helming responsibility would obviously want to put their own mark in the film.

At this point, it's difficult to gauge what's going to happen with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Gunn's stamp is all over the subseries that it will be tricky to replace him. At the same time, it's improbable that Marvel Studios will just abandon the subseries knowing that it's one of their most popular franchises. If anything, at least fans now know that Drax will (originally) have a part to play in Avengers 4.