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“I know I said no surprises, but I was really hoping to pull off one last one…” -Disney (probably).
A day after the surprise trailer for Avengers: Endgame, Disney has finally rehired director James Gunn for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the GoTG director is in talks of renegotiations with Disney and Marvel Studios in order for him to return as director of Vol. 3.
On July 2018, Gunn was fired from Marvel Studios after a series of tweets, dated from more than a decade ago, had resurfaced by an alt-right user. In them contained attempts of sexual jokes and innuendos by Gunn. The Scooby Doo writer had previously apologized for the content he wrote on his Twitter account and has stated that they were attempts of being funny with “shock humor”, which he regretted.
After the firing, fans of the Guardians film have expressed their disappointment with Disney’s Alan Horn decision of firing Gunn; in context, the negotiations for the 20th Century Fox buyout was occurring while the incident happened. At the same time, Marvel Studios had confirmed that Gunn’s script for Vol. 3 was to be used for the next installment of the franchise, which followed yet another backlash from many on the Internet. Marvel Studios was also looking for new directors for the project but ultimately decided to hold it off for the moment, with other films in its place.
The cast of the Guardians of the Galaxy have also expressed their disappointment and was outspoken about the controversy, especially Dave Bautista.
Additionally, fans had bombarded Disney CEO Bob Iger after he tweeted the trailer for Avengers: Endgame with hashtags like #RehireJamesGunn.
I'm guessing this film is going to be big! #AvengersEndgame. Agree? https://t.co/lZDV8rY5Wb
— Robert Iger (@RobertIger) March 14, 2019
After the firing, Gunn had issued a statement:
“My words of nearly a decade ago were, at the time, totally failed and unfortunate efforts to be provocative. 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”
As of the moment, Warner Bros. hired James Gunn as a director and writer for the sequel to Suicide Squad, which stars Idris Elba as Deathshot.