Chris Pratt and Zoe Saldana Held Secret Meeting With Marvel After James Gunn’s Firing

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will make its way into theater next week and Marvel Studios is hoping for their next big hit. From everything we’ve seen in the promotional material, the sequel looks to be the most emotional Marvel Studios film yet. But, that was almost not the case. Way back when director James Gunn was fired from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 due to some choice tweets and jokes that he made in the past and he apologized and moved on to directing DC’s The Suicide Squad. Marvel Studios would eventually hire the director back and has since let him helm The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special that released on Disney+ last winter and the upcoming third film. Gunn had a lot of people in his corner backing him up during those trying time like Chris Pratt and Zoe Saldaña. In a new report from The Hollywood Reporter, it’s revealed that the two had a secret meeting with Marvel Studios to bring Gunn back for his third Marvel film.

“While Pratt and others worked behind the scenes — he and Zoe Saldaña trekked to Marvel headquarters to privately meet with president and chief creative officer Kevin Feige, co-president Louis D’Esposito and then-head of production Victoria Alonso,” the trade revealed. “Fellow castmember Dave Bautista took a less subtle route, calling out Disney on Twitter: ‘Nauseating to work for someone who’d empower a smear campaign by fascists.’”

Chris Pratt on Emotional Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 Ending 

“It was really emotional,” Pratt revealed to ComicBook.com in a recent interview. “It was really emotional for so many reasons that it would take too long in this interview to even get into. But it just was emotional. It was a lot of gratitude around the fact that James Gunn actually directed it and was able to do that. Just grateful that he even gave me the job to begin with. It felt gratifying, knowing that critics had said that it would likely be the first Marvel movie to bomb. And what was that gonna be like, to be the first Marvel movie to not be successful? To take these characters that no one knew, and now have them be household names, and to be part of that, and to have rides around the world.”

What is Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 About?

Marvel Studios describes Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 as follows: “Peter Quill, still reeling from the loss of Gamora, must rally his team to defend the universe along with protecting one of their own. A mission that, if not completed successfully, could quite possibly lead to the end of the Guardians”.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 hits theaters in May 5th!

What do you think about what Chris Pratt and Zoe Saldaña did for James Gunn? Are you excited to see Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3? Let us know in the comments below or by hitting up our writer @NateBrail on Twitter!