James Gunn Fired As Director Of ‘Guardians Of The Galaxy 3’ [Updated]
Update #2: Gunn has issued another apology in the wake of his firing. You can read it in full below.Update: Gunn will no longer appear in Hall H at San Diego Comic-Con tonight, as originally planned. Read more below.James Gunnwill no longer be directingGuardians of the Galaxy 3. After helming the first two wildly successfulGuardians of the Galaxymovies, Marvel has fired Gunn in the wake of the filmmaker’s old, polarizing tweets that have resurfaced on the internet.
Following the resurfacing of old tweets in which the director joked about sensitive topics of pedophilia and rape, Marvel has fired James Gunn as the director ofGuardians of the Galaxy 3, according toThe Hollywood Reporter. Walt Disney Studios chairmanAlan Hornsaid in a statement:
“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 was originally set to participate in Sony’s San Diego Comic-Con panel this weekend, but following the reports of his firing,Variety’s sources tell them that Gunn will no longer take the stage in Hall H.
Gunn’s tweets, which were originally posted between 2009 to 2012, resurfaced after conservative bloggers Mike Cernovich and Jack Posobiecbrought them to the web’s attention, criticizing the filmmaker’s shocking jokes. Virtually all of Gunn’s offensive tweets were posted before the filmmaker joined Marvel Studios. Before he shepherded theGuardians of the Galaxyto surprise success in 2014, Gunn had built a reputation as a B-movie horror guru with films likeSlither, Dawn of the Dead,andTromeo and Juliet.
Shortly after the tweets resurfaced, Gunn apologized for his old remarks onTwitter.
Update:Deadlinejust published a new apology from the filmmaker, which can be read in its entirety below:
Regardless of how much time has passed, I understand and accept the business decisions taken today. Even these many years later, I take full responsibility for the way I conducted myself then. All I can do now, beyond offering my sincere and heartfelt regret, is to be the best human being I can be: accepting, understanding, committed to equality, and far more thoughtful about my public statements and my obligations to our public discourse. To everyone inside my industry and beyond, I again offer my deepest apologies. Love to all."
Gunn had run into controversy before, in 2012 when a provocative blog post about Batwoman was criticized as homophobic and sexist. But Gunn released a sincereapologyfor that post as well, saying, “I’m learning all the time. I promise to be more careful with my words in the future.” It’s likely that Disney would have been aware of Gunn’s past controversies and statements, but is only now bowing to pressure following outrage from the far-right blogosphere.
Disney and Marvel have not yet announced who will replace Gunn as the director ofGuardians of the Galaxy 3. Gunn had finished writing the script for the thirdGuardians of the Galaxyfilm, which was expected to kick off the Marvel Cinematic Universe’scosmic phase.Guardians of the Galaxy 3was previously set to begin shooting in Atlanta in the fall and arrive in theaters in2020.
