Report: Actor Did Not Want to Work Because of James Gunn, Nearly Halted 'Guardians 3' Production

Now, it appears that there’s new information about some very real difficulties on the Guardians 3 set!

Related: ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’ Post-Credit Scenes Explained

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 marked James Gunn’s final endeavor within the Marvel Universe as he directed this concluding project. Accompanied by the musical compositions of John Murphy, the movie served as the concluding chapter for Marvel Studios’ cherished Guardians. A significant portion, if not all, of the team members likely bid their farewells to the MCU. Released on May 5, 2023, the film continued the narrative following the Guardians’ most recent exploits showcased in The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special. This special presentation, an offering from Marvel Studios on Disney+, trailed the cosmic voyagers from their appearances in Thor: Love and Thunder (2022) and their involvement in the Avengers series during the Infinity Saga.

The Guardians of the Galaxy Legacy

Produced by The Walt Disney Company’s Marvel Studios, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 was the farewell project of former Marvel director James Gunn to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The film featured a plethora of familiar faces who had reprised their roles from the preceding Guardians of the Galaxy installments: the original Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1 (2014) and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017). Fans had the opportunity to witness the gun-wielding human (and one-time Celestial), Peter Quill, known as Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), as well as the daughters of Thanos, Gamora (Zoe Saldaña) and Nebula (Karen Gillan), the arboreal alien Groot (Vin Diesel), the cuddly yet lethal Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper), the vengeance-driven Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista), the empathic Mantis (Pom Klementieff), Ravager Kraglin Obfonteri (Sean Gunn), Stakar Ogord (Sylvester Stallone), and even Cosmo the Spacedog (Maria Bakalova).

Related: Marvel Scrapped Pete Davidson’s Cameo From ‘Guardians 3’

Facing a fresh assortment of trials, these interstellar champions came across the magnificent Adam Warlock, portrayed by newcomer Will Poulter, joined by Elizabeth Debicki’s depiction of Ayesha. The character of the High Evolutionary in the new Marvel film was assumed by Chukwudi Iwuji, accompanied by his accomplice Theel (Nico Santos), while Daniela Melchior embraced the role of Ura, and Kai Zen portrayed Phyla-Vell. In addition, Linda Cardellini made her first appearance as Lylla the Otter, Asim Chaudhry undertook the part of Teefs the Walrus, and Mikaela Hoover featured as Floor the Bunny — all of them being former cellmates and companions of Rocket.

Consequences For James Gunn’s “Bad Behavior”

Recently, visual effects production supervisor Stephane Ceretti opened up about the alleged behavior of director James Gunn on set — partaking in particularly “naughty” acts that almost stopped filming. According to MovieWeb.com, those moments of bad behavior from Gunn involved the charming actor Slate, who played the role of the adorable Cosmo the Space Dog on set, voice-acted by Maria Bakalova. Allegedly, “the dog’s desire to play with Gunn often led to distractions”, with

James loves dogs. So James would start playing with Slate and then by the time we were rolling, Slate was like, ‘Oh, I’m gone. I don’t know. I want to play.

It’s natural for working dogs (and in this case, actor dogs) to need to retain focus on the task at hand — and unfortunately, eliciting a play response in them is a huge distraction. However looking at that adorable face, it’s no wonder that Gunn simply can’t resist!

James Gunn seems to be a massive source of general cheer on set, bringing an infectiously fun energy to all his projects. Now that he’s transitioning into becoming DC Studios‘ CEO over at Warner Bros. Discovery — it looks like some of that iconic energy will be migrating over to Marvel Studios’ biggest rival.

What do you think about the most adorable member of the Guardians of the Galaxy 3 cast not wanting to work because of James Gunn? Share your thoughts in the comments below!