Guardians 3 director 'James Gunn is BACK': Disney 'reinstates' him after twitter scandal

It was one of the biggest shocks in Hollywood history. Gunn was sensationally and summarily fired from Guardians 3 after a series of distasteful old tweets were unearthed by right-wing campaigners against Gunn and his fellow liberals. The director accepted full responsibility for the misjudged and poor taste jokes but was removed from teh movie despite a huge outcry from his cast and other other Hollywood figures. Now a major US outlet has exclusively announced Disney has reinstated him.

Deadline journalist Mike Fleming Jr wrote: “I’ve learned that Disney has reinstated James Gunn as the writer-director of Guardians of the Galaxy 3, and I’ve confirmed it with Marvel and Gunn’s camp.

“The decision to rehire Gunn –he was fired last July by Disney after alt-right journalists made public a fusillade of decade-old social media missives that made light of paedophilia and rape — was one that was mulled and actually made months ago, following conversations with Disney studio leadership and the team at Marvel Studios. 

“Why the change of heart? After the firing, Walt Disney Studios president Alan Horn met with Gunn on multiple occasions to discuss the situation. Persuaded by Gunn’s public apology and his handling of the situation after, Horn decided to reverse course and reinstate Gunn.”

WHY WAS JAMES GUN FIRED? READ THE ORIGINAL TWEETS HERE

The meetings were reported at the time, but there had been no indication that Disney would ever reverse its decision. Now it sounds like Gunn may have been told in secret that he would be brought back, but the announcement would be held until a suitable period had passed for the situation to die down.

Gunn’s dismissal came immediately in the wake of Disney dropping Roseanne Barr after she made distasteful racist public comments about Obama aide Valerie Jarret. Even though Gunn’s tweets were years old and clearly jokes, however poor-taste, and were not about anyone real, Disney clearly felt it could not fire one and not the other, despite repeated calls to do so from Gunn supporters. 

As yet there have been no official statements from the studio or the director, nor have Gunn’s vocal cast made any social media comments.

Guardians 3 was put on indefinite hold at the time, although the characters will appear in Avengers Endgame. While a few directors have been mentioned in passing, there has never been a clear indication Disney was seeking an alternative.

Chris Pratt also recently confirmed Gunn’s original script would be used and it suddenly looks more and more like it was the plan all along to bring back Gunn.

Guardians fans will be thrilled although they still have to wait a little while. In the interim, Gunn signed on to reboot the Suicide Squad franchise for Warner Bros and Deadline confirms that Disney will allow him to honour that agreement before commencing work again on Guardians 3.

ORIGINAL STORY IN DEADLINE