James Gunn will not return to direct Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
A report from Variety indicates that Disney is unlikely to rehire Gunn, despite the support he’s received since being fired after old tweets about pedophilia and trans-misogyny surfaced. The report sources “multiple people familiar with the studio’s current thinking.”
“The feeling within both Disney and Marvel is that the dozens of so-called jokes that Gunn made about pedophilia and rape are unacceptable in the #MeToo era and are not in line with Disney’s family-friendly image,” the report states.
This comes after the outlet’s report that Disney was considering meeting with Gunn to discuss his possible reinstatement.
Disney is also facing a crisis over replacing Gunn in the very near future, with filming set to begin in 2019. Gunn wrote the script for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 already, and it’s likely that Disney would choose to get someone else to pen a new version so that they could sever the relationship with Gunn altogether.
On Monday, the cast of the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise revealed their united front on the ordeal, issuing a statement signed by every major player across both films, including Chris Pratt and Zoe Saldana.
“We fully support James Gunn. We were all shocked by his abrupt firing last week and have intentionally waited these ten days to respond in order to think, pray, listen, and discuss. In that time, we’ve been encouraged by the outpouring of support from fans and members of the media who wish to see James reinstated as director of Volume 3 as well as discouraged by those so easily duped into believing the many outlandish conspiracy theories surrounding him.,” the statement read.
“It is our hope that what has transpired can serve as an example for all of us to realize the enormous responsibility we have to ourselves and to each other regarding the use of our written words when we etch them in digital stone; that we as a society may learn from this experience and in the future will think twice before we decide what we want to express; and in so learning perhaps can harness this capability to help and heal instead of hurting each other. Thank you for taking the time to read our words.”
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is currently scheduled to premiere in theaters in 2020.