James Gunn discussed how Taika Waititi’s Thor: Love and Thunder allowed him to remove Chris Hemsworth from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.

James Gunn Never Wanted Chris Hemsworth, Was Glad He Left Guardians of the Galaxy in Thor 4

Earlier this year, fans got the third installment in the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise from filmmaker James Gunn. The movie received praise from fans all over the world but Gunn’s initial plans for the movie might’ve ruined the franchise, thankfully, Taika Waititi shaped the story before him and Gunn was able to take over.
Guardians of the Galaxy cast with director, James GunnGuardians of the Galaxy cast with director, James Gunn
Gunn had no plans of including Thor, played by Chris Hemsworth, in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, ignoring the events of Avengers: Endgame. Thor joins Guardians of the Galaxy at the end of the movie but that is only for a brief period as we see Thor leaving the group in Taika Waititi’s Thor: Love and Thunder, so thanks to Waititi’s movie, Gunn was able to remove Thor from his movie.

James Gunn never had plans of including Chris Hemsworth in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

James Gunn

James Gunn
In April, filmmaker James Gunn appeared for an interview with Rolling Stone and explained that he was assigned to do a third Guardians of the Galaxy movie right after the events of Avengers: Endgame. The filmmaker recalled that he planned to give no closure and release the film without Thor,
“They chose to have that ending in editing. And I didn’t think it was gonna be in there. Endgame came out right after I decided to do Guardians again. So I didn’t have much say in what was in Endgame, and then it came out and then I was like, ‘What the f**k am I gonna do?’ That’s when [Marvel Studios president] Kevin [Feige] told me Taika’s gonna do Thor, and we’ll have the Guardians in it. I said ‘Thank God!’… To be completely honest, Thor was never going to be in this movie. Taika took a bullet for me. Because I was not going to have him in. I was just gonna start up and there’s no Thor.”
James Gunn wrote and directed all three Guardians of the Galaxy movies. Apart from this, the director is currently the co-CEO of DC Studios, setting up his new DC Universe.

How did Taika Waititi save James Gunn?

Taika WaititiTaika Waititi
At the end of Avengers: Endgame, Thor passes the crown of New Asgard to Valkyrie and joins the Guardians of the Galaxy leaving James Gunn with that story to continue, however, director Taika Waititi was then assigned to create 2022’s Thor: Love and Thunder, in which fans get to see Thor leaving Guardians of the Galaxy in order to battle Gorr the God Butcher and the Olympian god Zeus. So, Gunn was successfully able to give fans the third movie without Thor.

Gunn has bigger things to worry about now as the future of DC Studios is in his hands. All eyes are on his 2025 movie, Superman: Legacy, which will introduce a new actor as the beloved character and this movie will be a part of Gunn’s new DC Universe.