Despite a groundswell of support, including a signed letter from the franchise’s main cast members, it’s unlikely that Disney will rehire James Gunn to direct Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
Variety reports that Disney is standing behind its decision to fire Gunn after a series of old offensive tweets from the filmmaker recently surfaced. According to multiple sources familiar with the studio’s line of thinking on this, both Disney and Marvel higher-ups feel that Gunn’s so-called jokes about pedophilia and rape are unacceptable in the #MeToo era and don’t align with Disney’s family-friendly image.
Many who had disagreed with Gunn’s firing were given hope earlier this week that the decision might be reversed when Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, and the rest of the GotG cast publicly endorsed the ousted filmmaker, but it looks like that is unlikely to sway either Disney Studios chief Alan Horn, who approved the firing, or his boss, company CEO Bob Iger, who weighed in on the final decision. “I don’t see Disney re-hiring him,” one person close to the matter told Variety. “Those tweets were so horrible and Disney has a different standard than other studios.”
Photo: Marvel Studios
