Disney reportedly never actually looked for another Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 director

James Gunn is back as director of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 — and it sounds like Disney never seriously explored a replacement after all.

Gunn, who was fired from the Marvel superhero sequel last summer when old tweets of his joking about rape and pedophilia were resurfaced, on Friday confirmed reports that he has been rehired for the project.

Vol. 3 was originally expected to be released in 2020, but preproduction was put on hold last August after Gunn's firing. Reports suggested that Disney was launching a search for his replacement so the movie could go forward, with The Hollywood Reporter writing that the studio was taking a "measured approach in their search for a director." Rumors swirled for months about who was being considered, and Vice director Adam McKay suggested in an interview that he had discussed possibly taking over the project.

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But The Hollywood Reporter now reports that "what almost no one knew" until today was that Marvel and Disney had actually "never undertaken a search" for another director at all and, in fact, had "gone back to Gunn and made a deal...in secret." Deadline similarly reports that the decision to bring back Gunn was made "months ago" and that Marvel "never met with or considered any other director."

It's unclear what exactly held up this announcement, but star Dave Bautista seemed to hint it was coming in a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, suggesting that those who fired Gunn "realized they made a harsh, rash decision" and that he would "bounce back in a huge way" in the coming months.

Gunn now reportedly won't begin work on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 until he's finished with The Suicide Squad, meaning this controversy essentially accomplished nothing other than delaying the Guardians sequel — and leaving Gunn with more directing gigs than before.