This past week or so has been crazy. First, James Gunn was fired due to inappropriate tweets from ten years ago resurfacing, then rumors circulating that Disney was considering hiring Gunn back. These tweets in question include very inappropriate jokes; jokes that Gunn has seemed to apologize for both currently and when he was originally hired to direct the first Guardians of the Galaxy. This was a massive blow to the MCU community and has divided fans, between those who are saying to keep Gunn away and those who urge people to remember that this was over a decade ago and Gunn has changed. His brother Sean Gunn wrote a very heartfelt Instagram post relating to this controversy and the cast of GotG even penned an open letter about the subject.
If you please, read the statement written and signed by The Guardians of the Galaxy cast in support of James Gunn’s reinstatement as director of GOTG Volume 3. pic.twitter.com/TjNA9RF6M8
— Zoe Saldana (@zoesaldana) July 30, 2018
Despite a lot of speculation and our own news that Disney was considering rehiring James Gunn, Variety has put out a statement that the decision to fire Gunn will hold up.
“Despite a cast letter asking for James Gunn to be reinstated as the director of “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,” Walt Disney Studios is currently not planning on rehiring the filmmaker who it recently fired after a series of offensive tweets surfaced, according to multiple people familiar with the studio’s current thinking. The feeling within both Disney and Marvel is that the dozens of so-called jokes that Gunn made about pedophilia and rape are unacceptable in the #MeToo era and are not in line with Disney’s family-friendly image.”
Personal opinions aside, this decision may really unwrap the Guardians of the Galaxy in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Actors like Chris Pratt and Zoe Saldana did threaten to quit and while some could become defensive about this, you do have to understand that this is a tight-knit group who have worked very close to Gunn. Disney is confident that the actors will not leave the franchise, after all, many are under contract. But, do we really want actors not giving their all because instead of joyfully participating in these movies, they’re instead forced to lest face legal repercussions?
On top of that, everything surrounding the James Gunn firing could delay the original February 2019 Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 release date. Gunn was developing the script, so does this mean someone else will or was his script technically property of Disney? Will we ever get to see Adam Warlock on screen? And who will take up the mantle for Gunn? If you’ve followed my twitter, you’ll know I believe Taika Waititi would be a perfect fit. For now, it doesn’t seem like the studio is in a rush to make any kind of decision as far as replacing Gunn, which is a shame as I see the GotG films as some of the best in the MCU. Only time will tell.
A girl with too many fandoms to count.
2 Comments
Pratt and Saldana need to act like adults and honor their contracts….if they want to support Gunn, then they should join him in his next project, because he will direct another movie again for sure
I think they have no choice but to honor them or else they would face litigation from Disney