Marvel StudiosThe fiasco concerning James Gunn’s off-colour tweets and subsequent firing has taken another twist after it was reported the controversial director may helm the next Guardians of the Galaxy film after all.
According to Deadline, a group at Marvel Studios are attempting to negotiate with their mouse overlords at Disney to get Gunn back in the director’s chair for the good of the franchise.
Negotiations reportedly began after it became clear that the whole Guardians of the Galaxy gang supported Gunn, putting Disney and the cosmic franchise in a precarious position.
Most notably Dave Bautista, who plays fan favourite Drax, has expressed his disappointment with the studio several times even going so far as to say he’d ask Disney to release him from his contract unless they used the script Gunn finished before he was fired.
Not only that fans of the Guardians of the Galaxy have made their dissatisfaction clear online, conducting petitions and taking to social media in their droves to protest the firing.
Now with rival studios circling the talented director, the cast seemingly upset at his firing and a grassroots fan movement to have him rehired it seems Disney may be willing to listen to Marvel and bring Gunn back into the fold.
GettyThis whole debacle began when a right-wing commentator Mike Cernovich brought to light several controversial tweets that Gunn made ten years ago concerning paedophilia and rape.
Following the publication of the tweets, Disney quickly made the decision to fire Gunn as they found his comments at odds with the multinational conglomerate’s values.
The Walt Disney Studios chairman, Alan Horn said in a statement at the time:
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.
Unfortunately for the House of Mouse, Gunn’s defenders were quick to point out that there were others still working or associated with Disney whose past behaviour had also been at odds with those values.
Furthermore, Gunn’s firing and the studio’s slow response to replace him has put the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3. 2020 release date in jeopardy.
Now with a $1.6 billion franchise on the line, Disney may be forced to take action and go back on their decision to fire Gunn, although you have to wonder whether he’d want to return at this point.
As Deadline and multiple other trades have reported Gunn is hot property in Hollywood, even with all this bad press, so it’s unlikely he’ll be unemployed for long.
In the absence of any concrete facts, a number of strange rumours have started to crop up concerning Gunn’s future at Marvel.
Several publications have pointed out that while Disney technically hasn’t released him from his contract, he could potentially be shunted onto another project.
There are other completely contradictory rumours claiming that Disney is unlikely to rehire Gunn and I’ll be honest every other day we hear something new so I’d take these recent rumours with a massive pinch of salt.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3. is set for a 2020 release date … maybe?
More of a concept than a journalist, Tom Percival was forged in the bowels of Salford University from which he emerged grasping a Masters in journalism.
Since then his rise has been described by himself as ‘meteoric’ rising to the esteemed rank of Social Editor at UNILAD as well as working at the BBC, Manchester Evening News, and ITV.
He credits his success to three core techniques, name repetition, personality mirroring, and never breaking off a handshake.