James Gunn Reinstated As Guardians Of The Galaxy 3 Director After Tweets Row

Disney have reversed their decision to axe the director.
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James Gunn has been reinistated as director of Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3, after previously losing the position when offensive, old tweets sent from his account were unearthed.

Last July, Gunn was fired over tweets from over a decade ago, in which he joked about subjects inculuding paedophilia and rape.

James Gunn
James Gunn
David Edwards/MediaPunch/MediaPunch/IPx

When the posts hit headlines, he apologised immediately and called the tweets “unfortunate efforts to be provocative”.

However at the time, Disney chairman Alan Horn said Gunn’s words were inconsistent with the studio’s values.

1. Many people who have followed my career know when I started, I viewed myself as a provocateur, making movies and telling jokes that were outrageous and taboo. As I have discussed publicly many times, as I’ve developed as a person, so has my work and my humor.

— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) July 20, 2018

The comments, made from 2008 to 2011, were brought to light by far-right propagandists Mike Cernovich and Jack Posobiec, who combed through Gunn’s social media history after he criticised President Donald Trump.

But Gunn’s dismissal was passionately protested by many, including the Guardians cast, and on Friday, representatives for the director and Walt Disney Co confirmed that he has been reinstated as writer-director of the Marvel franchise.

The fight to have him reinstated saw the cast, including Chris Pratt, Bradley Cooper, Zoe Saldana and Vin Diesel, show their support in an open letter.

Pratt wrote: “Although I don’t support James Gunn’s inappropriate jokes from years ago, he is a good man.”

Members of the Guardians cast with Gunn at the Vol. 2 premiere
Members of the Guardians cast with Gunn at the Vol. 2 premiere
Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP

After being axed by Disney, Gunn was signed to write and direct the sequel to Warner Bros’ Suicide Squad. He will still be doing this, with shooting starting in the autumn.

A Disney spokesman declined to comment on when Guardians 3 might go into production.

The first two films made more than $1.5 billion in worldwide ticket sales.

The second, released in 2017, won three Teen Choice Awards and was nominated for an Academy Award.

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