What Karen Gillan Really Thinks About James Gunn's Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 Firing

It's been a crazy few years for the Marvel Cinematic Universe — as the culmination of a decade's worth of storytelling came to a head in 2018's "Avengers: Infinity War" and 2019's "Avengers: Endgame," followed by a deep dive into the multiverse, chaos magic, and Egyptian mythology — but one of the most anticipated projects  in the pipeline is James Gunn's "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3," which is currently slated for May 5, 2023.

The film will once again pick up with the cosmic band of misfits as they make their way through the galaxy as both heroes and renegades. The sequel is currently in production, but it's not been an easy road for filmmaker James Gunn. Back in the summer of 2018, Disney fired the director over a series of controversial tweets he'd made many years in the past — even though he'd already apologized for his comments. The surprising move seemed to spell disaster for "Guardians of the Galaxy" movies — a series very intimately tied to Gunn's cinematic sensibilities, from the characters to the soundtrack — especially when Warner Bros. snapped Gunn up for "The Suicide Squad."

Thankfully, the director was eventually welcomed back to Marvel Studios with open arms in March 2019, and the third "Guardians" film was back on the table. Still, memories of this obviously troubling time for the director — and the stars that make up the ensemble cast — remain, and will almost certainly be recalled anytime the movie comes up. Most recently, Karen Gillan — Nebula herself — opened up about what she really thinks about Disney firing (and re-hiring) Gunn.

Karen Gillan's Nebula has had an interesting journey through the MCU so far. The cybernetic daughter of Thanos has grown from a remorseless killer — one who follows her father's every command — to an emotionally vulnerable soldier who just wants a sister to lean on, and even forms friendships with Earth-based characters like Tony Stark. She also teams up with the Avengers to help save the entire universe from the Mad Titan, which is no small feat. But her story clearly isn't done, and Gillan will be back in "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" alongside the likes Chris Pratt and Zoe Saldana.

When speaking to The Hollywood Reporter about some of her upcoming projects, Gillan explained that doing another "Guardians" movie without James Gunn at the helm would have felt wrong. "I think everybody was so excited to be back together. The feeling was giddy excitement. The whole family was back together and we truly do feel like a family. And it just wouldn't have felt right without James back with us. It just wouldn't have been the same movie."

The "Doctor Who" alum also says how grateful they all are that Disney re-hired the director, and that it's been an emotional shoot. "So we were all extremely grateful that everything got straightened out, as it should have. And now, we're almost finished. So there's a little bit of a bittersweet feeling in the air as we close out this chapter of the Guardians as we currently know it."

It's obvious that Gillan and the rest of the "Guardians" gang think highly of Gunn, so it's reassuring to hear that they were just as concerned about the situation as fans were at the time.