James Gunn fired: Thanos creator SLAMS Disney as backlash continues over Guardians 3 shock

Gunn was axed from the Marvel franchise by Disney after offensive old tweets were found on his account and went viral.

While few are defending the tweets themselves, a quarter of a million fans have signed a petition demanding he be re-instated; reasoning that Gunn has sincerely apologised and has evolved his attitudes since the tweets were posted.

Writing on Facebook, Jim Starlin – Thanos’ creator – said: “After giving it a couple of days to think over this James Gunn/Disney controversy, I’ve come to the conclusion that the Mouse got played.

“Yes, Gunn’s decade-old tweets were distasteful and stupid, but clearly meant to be foolishly provocative rather than taken as advocacy.

“The whole uproar over them was plainly ginned up by two Breitbart hatchet men, John Nolte and Mike Cernovich, in respone to Roseanne Barr’s firing for her repeated hate-filled and racist tweets.

“I have to agree with Dave Bautista on this one. Disney accepted a ridiculous apple and oranges argument and made one hell of a bad call.”

Walt Disney Studios chairman Alan Horn had said late last week: “The offensive attitudes and statements discovered on James’ Twitter feed are indefensible.

“[They are] inconsistent with our studio’s values, and we have severed our business relationship with him.”

The tweets in question had seen Gunn appear to joke about paedophilia and rape.

According to BBC News, they had been shared first by conservative news website the Daily Caller, and were then shared by a large number of conservative pundits.

Gunn apologised on his own Twitter feed, saying: “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.

“It’s not to say I’m better, but I am very, very different than I was a few years ago; today I try to root my work in love and connection and less in anger. My days saying something just because it’s shocking and trying to get a reaction are over.

“In the past, I have apologized for humor of mine that hurt people. I truly felt sorry and meant every word of my apologies.

“For the record, when I made these shocking jokes, I wasn’t living them out. I know this is a weird statement to make, and seems obvious, but, still, here I am, saying it.

“Anyway, that’s the completely honest truth: I used to make a lot of offensive jokes. I don’t anymore. I don’t blame my past self for this, but I like myself more and feel like a more full human being and creator today. Love you to you all.”