After firing James Gunn back in July, Disney has reinstated Gunn as director of “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.”
Gunn was fired following the resurfacing of offensive tweets that made light of child sex abuse. The director apologized for the sentiments, which were resurfaced by conservative talking head Mike Cernovich, but was quickly axed by family-friendly Disney over the graphic and immature nature of his comments.
When Gunn was fired, he issued a statement apologizing for his previous tweets.
“My words of nearly a decade ago were, at the time, totally failed and unfortunate efforts to be provocative,” his July 2018 statement read. “I have regretted them for many years since — not just because they were stupid, not at all funny, wildly insensitive, and certainly not provocative like I had hoped, but also because they don’t reflect the person I am today or have been for some time.”
The firing was controversial, with “Guardians of the Galaxy” stars, including Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Bradley Cooper and Dave Bautista, signing an open letter asking for the filmmaker to be rehired. Bautista, in particular, had been outspoken in his support of Gunn.
Marvel Studios put “Guardians 3” on hold, though Marvel head Kevin Feige and others involved have maintained they intended to make the film happen. “Guardians 3” never had a release date, but Gunn previously said it would open in 2020.
After firing Gunn, speculation began about who would replace the filmmaker. The search didn’t go far and according to Deadline there never really was one. Disney had gone back to Gunn and made a deal.
Bringing the director back wouldn’t be a complete breeze as Gunn had already signed on to Warner Bros. and DC to write and direct “The Suicide Squad.” To make the whole thing easier Marvel Studios agreed to commence production on “Guardians of the Galaxy 3″ after Gunn completes “Suicide Squad 2.”
