Variety.com reports that after a strong push to get James Gunn back as director of “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” following his firing from the project, Disney and Marvel are standing by their decision to not reinstate him as helmer for the next installment. The decision came following a meeting between Gunn and studio chairman Alan Horn.
Gunn was let go from the project when dozens of Gunn’s tweets (from about ten years ago) resurfaced on Twitter. The alleged joke tweets (about pedophilia and rape) were dug out of the Internet ash pile by alt-right agitators. The studio acted quickly to remove Gunn from directing the third installment, believing the comments went against Disney’s family-friendly image.
And you know what? They were right.
Since then, support for Gunn has been widespread, especially from the “Guardians” cast. Cast members including Chris Pratt and Zoe Saldana asked for Gunn to be reinstated in an open letter. Too bad that open letter was written in an act of solidarity just a week or two before Gunn decided the best course of action (while under fire for rape and pedophilia) was to host a To Catch a Predator party. You know…a party whose theme is rape and pedophilia.
This is got to be the worst way to give your former bosses the middle finger. It’s really unimaginable to believe that anyone is that stupid. But there’s one truth to it if Gunn really is that oblivious and evidence of this party was never meant to come to light.
The actors and others who supported him and stood behind him in solidarity must feel really low right now.
The Variety.com report continues and states that Gunn and his UTA reps pushed hard for him to be given a second chance, and Horn decided to take the meeting but only as a courtesy to clear the air with Gunn. Though the meeting was described as civil and professional, sources say that Horn stood by his decision to not reinstate Gunn as director.
Insiders say Marvel president Kevin Feige was out of town and unable to attend. Sources added that while it was rumored that Feige was pushing to bring Gunn back, Feige stands by the studio’s decision to not bring back the “Guardians” director for the third installment.
Do you believe we’ve heard the last of this situation? Tell Nerdbot about it in the comments!
