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.
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.
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.”
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.
