Taika Waititi on The Mandalorian and whether he’ll direct Guardians Vol. 3

When Disney cut ties with James Gunn after a series of offensive comments were re-discovered on his Twitter, the fate of GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3 was left up in the air. It's clear that Marvel does want the film to happen at some point, but it's still uncertain just who will be taking the helm. One of several names which has frequently been brought up as a possibility to replace Gunn on GUARDIANS VOL. 3 is THOR: RAGNAROK director Taika Waititi.

While speaking at FX's panel at the Television Critics Associations winter press-tour, Taika Waititi said that he will definitely not be directing GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3. "For me, those are James (Gunn)’s films. Going into something like that with his stamp all over his films, would be like going into someone’s house and saying ‘Hey, I’m your new dad, and this is how we make peanut butter sandwiches now. It feels kind of awkward," Waititi said. However, that doesn't mean that Waititi is done with Marvel, in fact, he's eager to do another movie with them and has been talking with the studio about new stuff.

Speaking of new stuff which isn't Marvel related, Taika Waititi has also helmed an episode of Disney's upcoming Star Wars TV series The Mandalorian. The series, which stars Pedro Pascal in the title role, is set "after the fall of the Empire and before the emergence of the First Order. We follow the travails of a lone gunfighter in the outer reaches of the galaxy far from the authority of the New Republic." Getting to play in the Star Wars sandbox in any way sounds amazing, and Waititi was certainly a fan of the experience. "[Jon] Favreau is a genius," the THOR: RAGNAROK director said. "It’s fun doing something in the Star Wars universe. It’s a strangest to see a stormtrooper, and then when you’re doing a scene with 50 or 60 of them, it’s amazing." Unlike Waititi's colourful and stylistic take on Thor, you shouldn't expect quite so big a change when it comes to his work on The Mandalorian.

A little bit, but Star Wars is very different to the Marvel style. The tone of the first films really should be adhered to, it’s what the fans like. You can’t disrespect it. Definitely my tone is in there.

In addition to Waititi, further episodes of The Mandalorian will be helmed by Dave Filoni (Star Wars Rebels), Deborah Chow (Jessica Jones), Rick Famuyiwa (DOPE), and Bryce Dallas Howard (SOLEMATES). The Star Wars series is expected to debut on Disney+ late this year.