Star Wars backlash: James Gunn tells furious fans to ‘go to therapy’ amid Solo 'flop’

The Guardians of the Galaxy film-maker was responding to an interview with Jar Jar Binks star Ahmed Best when he delivered strong words to members of the more toxic side of the Star Wars fandom.

But whilst his words were inspired by the negative reaction to the prequel trilogy, they still apply today – while Star Wars: The Last Jedi is still generating criticism from upset superfans and Solo: A Star Wars Story is a relative flop at the box office.

“People need to chill out,” Gunn said, sharing the interview with Best – in which he revealed that he considered suicide at the height of the Jar Jar backlash.

Later, Gunn followed-up: “People responding to this post saying, ‘Yeah, it wasn’t the actor’s fault! It was the writer’s!’ are missing the point.

“Critique it. Don’t like it. But spewing hate and bile at individuals just doing their best to tell a story, even if the story sucks, is lame. Don’t watch it!

“Star Wars (or any movie) may be important to you, but it doesn’t belong to you.

“If your self-esteem depends on how good you think the current Star Wars is, or your childhood is ruined because you don’t like something in a movie, GO TO THERAPY.”

The latter post has been shared over two thousand times, while 10,000 people have hit Like on it.

Currently there are rumours abound that LucasFilm chief Kathleen Kennedy is on the way out, although this remains completely unconfirmed.

Last Jedi director Rian Johnson is working on his own trilogy within the franchise, while JJ Abrams is about to start production on Skywalker saga finale Episode 9.

Mark Hamill has remained coy over whether or not he will make an appearance in the upcoming film, after Luke appeared to be killed off in Last Jedi.

“I don’t know,” he told Collider. “I’m the last to know.”

But hinting that a “surprise” is possible, he said: “I like it that way… I like surprises….

“When I know something, I’ll let you know.”