In the wake of James Gunn's sacking from Marvel Studio, fans are calling for Taika Waititi to replace him as director of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. The development comes after Waititi made his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut with the critically acclaimed Thor: Ragnarok in 2017. Fans are drawing parallels between Waititi's humour and that of the Guardians franchise, and say he'd be the perfect pick for Gunn's replacement. "If Disney doesn't tap Taika Waititi to direct Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 then they're doing this whole thing wrong," one fan wrote on Twitter.<doc-sep>The day after director James Gunn was dropped from Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” franchise over offensive old tweets, “Thor: Ragnarok” director Taika Waititi has emerged as the fan favorite to replace Gunn on “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3.” On Thursday, right wing Twitter personality Mike Cernovich started posting a series of Gunn’s old tweets, which Gunn soon deleted. Online sleuths subsequently dug up dozens of other old tweets, many from between 2008 and 2011. Gunn, the co-writer and director of Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” and the writer-director of “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2”, apologized late Thursday, but the next morning he was fired outright by Disney. Gunn had previously apologized for the tweets in 2012, shortly after he was hired by Disney. And on Friday, he apologized again and said he understood Disney’s decision to fire him. Also Read: Disney Drops James Gunn From 'Guardians of the Galaxy' Franchise After Offensive Tweets Gunn’s removal from one of Marvel’s big franchises left many fans angry — including friends like “Guardians” co-star Dave Bautista. But others began thinking ahead to who might replace him, and the name a great number landed on was Waititi’s. “If Disney doesn’t tap Taika Waititi to direct Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 then they’re doing this whole thing wrong,” tweeted a fan. “After the James Gunn fallout, I nominate Taika Waititi for Guardians of the Galaxy 3. It would be the best Guardians movie yet,” tweeted another fan. Also Read: Dave Bautista, Others Defend James Gunn: 'I Am NOT OK With What's Happening' Another fan added, “Give Guardians of the Galaxy to Taika Waititi so I can get the Korg & Groot team up that I didn’t know I wanted until just now.” Waititi hasn’t made any public statement about Gunn or calls for him to take over the “Guardians” franchise — Disney did not respond to a request for comment from TheWrap. But that didn’t stop fans from continuing into Saturday night to urge the mouse house to consider the “Ragnarok” director. Read some of the other calls for Waititi to replace Gunn below. After the James Gunn fallout, I nominate Taika Waititi for Guardians of the Galaxy 3. It would be the best Guardians movie yet. — Anthony Bonetti (@abonetti007) July 21, 2018 If Disney doesn’t tap Taika Waititi to direct Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 then they’re doing this whole thing wrong. — Alissa Petsche (@AlissaPetsche) July 21, 2018 i see people saying that taika waititi should replace james gunn as director of gotg vol 3 and i completely agree, but let’s take it even further and hire back nicole perlman, a woman who put years of research and writing into gotg vol 1 and got almost no credit for it pic.twitter.com/SdsEimGUNg — emma (@spideytom) July 20, 2018 If James Gunn is fired, can Taika Waititi be the next director of Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3? — Patricia Gómexx (@GianzGmez) July 22, 2018 So…Taika Waititi should direct GotG vol. III. you can’t convince me otherwise — liz (@bisexualxbucky) July 22, 2018 Taika Waititi better be the one picking up Guardians 3 — Taylor(???????????? )Eggers (@SpottyFloppy) July 22, 2018 So we've moved from "This James Gunn sacking is outrageous" to "Hire Taika Waititi or Nicole Perlman to direct Part 3". Man twitter moves fast. — justanotherfilmnerd (@Anotherfilmnerd) July 22, 2018 i didn’t think about taika waititi saving gotg but omg he can do so much better for the franchise — daddy dafoe (@DARONMALAKlAN) July 22, 2018 I know it’s not gunna happen but I want Taika Waititi to direct Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 so b a d. Fingers crossed ???????? — ????Marvel.Trash??? ?|Saw amatw! (@Marvel__Trash) July 22, 2018<doc-sep>Marvel did what it had to do in firing James Gunn, but it shouldn’t overthink his replacement too much when there’s a great candidate already kind of in-house. A number of creative talents have already made their stamp on the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but it’s hard to argue that any of the franchises within that shared space were as much a singular vision as Guardians of the Galaxy was for James Gunn. After co-writing and directing the first film and doing almost all the heavy lifting for the sequel, Gunn’s stamp was all over Marvel’s cosmic oddballs. It won’t be going forward. Unfortunately juxtaposed with Comic-Con going on in San Diego and the eyes of the world on pop culture, Marvel decided to part ways with Gunn this week after people dug up offensive tweets he made on a number of subjects several years ago. This is the biggest of big deals for Marvel Studios, which now has to venture into the post-Phase Three era of the MCU without the one brand it probably believed it could count on more than any other, particularly since the Avengers figure to look much different at this time next year. Panic would be understandable under these conditions, since Gunn was slated to once again write and direct Guardians of the Galaxy 3. If only Marvel had a talented replacement who already proved adept at handling an unusual cast of characters in a spacefaring adventure, mixing comedy and action to the delight of audiences and critics alike … Oh wait, it does! If Marvel execs aren’t already sending “wat u doing’ texts to Taika Waititi, they really should be. Waititi knocked it out of the park helming Thor: Ragnarok, improbably elevating the third movie in the Thor series well above the other two. He wouldn’t have to raise the bar as high for Guardians of the Galaxy 3, seeing as the first two outings were pretty darn popular. But if you stop and think about some of the aspects of Ragnarok that made it so successful, it doesn’t take long to realize they’re almost exactly the same that the next Guardians film would need. Super high stakes with serious consequences that still find plenty of time for humor? That sure sounds like the Guardians. A deft touch with characters the general public didn’t know until they showed up on screen? Tessa Thompson’s Valkyrie says hello. Perhaps most importantly, Waititi already knows what it takes to work within the Marvel Studios system and keep his own personal style very much intact. Marvel has had a ton of good fortune working with relatively unproven directors on its properties — Gunn himself probably fit that description before Guardians blew up —and hopefully will continue to do so going forward. There’s just no need to do it here with so much riding on such a huge release after Avengers 4. Topping everything off, the future of Thor is very much up in the air, so if Waititi wants to make another superhero movie, it would just be too perfect for him to slide over to Guardians of the Galaxy 3. It’s the best possible way Marvel can roll with this particular punch, and it would be welcome news among fans to boot. Kevin Feige, if you’re reading, you know what to do.<doc-sep>
Marvel fans are still reeling from the news that long-term franchise favourite James Gunn will play no further part in the Guardians of the Galaxy series, thoughts have begun to turn towards his replacement. For many, there seems to be a clear choice: New Zealander Taika Waititi, the director of Thor: Ragnarok. Twitter was pretty unanimous on the call: "If Disney doesn't tap Taika Waititi to direct Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 then they're doing this whole thing wrong," wrote one Twitter user. Advert 10 Another added: "Let Taika Waititi direct Guardians of the Galaxy 3 you cowards the space visuals + effortless humour he came thru with in Thor: Ragnarok would add up to a better GOTG movie than James Gunn could ever DREAM of making." A few heavyweights online weighed in too, with critic David C James penning an article in support of Waititi. On a practical level, it works too, Waititi has a film in the works - Jojo Rabbit, which is described as being about 'a young boy in Hitler's army [who] finds out his mother is hiding a Jewish boy in their home' - but that should be wrapped by mid to late 2019, a little after the next GOTG film is due to start filming. And given that the slated director of the third instalment has just been fired, it's likely that Disney will be willing to delay if it means getting their guy. Advert 10 The fallout from the Gunn incident is still ongoing. For those not up to speed, the director was found to have made several offensive statements on Twitter regarding rape, paedophilia and the Holocaust a decade ago. Credit: PA Alan Horn, chairman of Walt Disney said in a statement: "The offensive attitudes and statements discovered on James's Twitter feed are indefensible and inconsistent with our studio's values, and we have severed our business relationship with him." Advert 10 Gunn said of the tweets: "My words of nearly a decade ago were, at the time, totally failed and unfortunate efforts to be provocative.