After the initial firing of director James Gunn by Disney from the third installment of the writer-director’s Marvel films Guardians of the Galaxy, Gunn had the opportunity to speak with the company in hopes of reinstating his position within the company.
After deliberation, Disney ultimately decided not to rehire Gunn for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. The family-friendly company seemingly could not see past Gunn’s 2008 and 2011 tweets that inappropriately joked about subjects including rape and pedophilia.
Although many people are happy with the decision from the company, Marvel fans are not nearly as excited about the loss of the director. In fact, Disney’s meeting would have likely never happened without the tens of thousands of Galaxy fans campaigning for Gunn’s rehiring.
The cast, alongside fans, have been very careful yet adamant about their feelings toward the entire situation. The stars, including Chris Pratt, Bradley Cooper, and Vin Diesel, have all signed an open letter regarding their feelings toward Gunn and his wonderful demeanor on set during the first two films.
Since the news that Gunn’s rehiring did not go through came out, though, some of the cast members are no longer being careful with their opinions or words. Dave Bautista, who plays Drax in the space-based film franchise, tweeted this after reading the controversial news:
https://twitter.com/DaveBautista/status/1030544004088324098
Bautista made it clear that he disagrees with the choice on the massive entertainment company’s part, and he certainly is not the only one.
This official firing also lends the question: Who will be taking Gunn’s place for the next film? Although we are unsure of the answer, we do know that Gunn’s script for the third film will be used for the next movie, but they will hire a new writer to fix details and perfect the screenplay.
Currently, the final film of the franchise is set to begin production in early 2019.