James Gunn Fired from GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3

Early this morning, old tweets from Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn resurfaced. The tweets were full of jokes about pedophilia, rape, and more. Naturally, this spawned much outrage on social media. Gunn responded with an ~~apology~~ explanation, saying that he has grown and doesn’t make jokes like that anymore. He then deleted his Twitter account. Regardless, the damage is done.

Disney has announced that Gunn has been fired from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Chairman Alan Horn gave the following statement (via THR). “The offensive attitudes and statements discovered on James’ Twitter feed are indefensible and inconsistent with our studio’s values, and we have severed our business relationship with him.”

Gunn has been writing the script for Guardians Vol. 3, with the plan to shoot the movie this fall for a 2020 release. With the sequel needing a new director, it’s unknown how much the production schedule and script will change at this time. Gunn was also expected to play a role in future Marvel cosmic films.

Ultimately, regardless of whether or not Disney made the “right” decision, it’s a logical one. Gunn is a very controversial figure right now, and allowing him to make a major studio film (from a family-friendly outlet no less) is just asking for polarizing results. It will be interesting to see how Disney and Marvel do next with this franchise.

Stay tuned for more as we have it.