In a genuinely jaw-dropping move, it was announced today that Disney has reinstated James Gunn as the director of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 after he was fired last summer in response to backlash over some past offensive tweets. A visit to Twitter will tell you that, while there are some not pleased with the rehiring, most Marvel fans are overjoyed that the filmmaker has been given a second chance and will complete his cosmic comic book trilogy after all.
As one fan succinctly put it, “welcome home, James Gunn”!
https://twitter.com/lovemymarvel/status/1106630134231121921
Anyone else feel like dancing like Baby Groot after this news?
https://twitter.com/mattbeim90/status/1106623423122292736?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1106623423122292736&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcomicbook.com%2Fmarvel%2F2019%2F03%2F15%2Fguardians-of-the-galaxy-vol-3-james-gunn-rehired-reactions%2F
Some were relieved that the Mouse House had seen the light and forgiven Gunn.
When Disney finally came to their senses and brought back James Gunn for Guardians of the Galaxy 3. pic.twitter.com/q6AyOKM7vT
— Cade Onder (@Cade_Onder) March 15, 2019
Others had a much more extreme reaction to the news, though.
https://twitter.com/Guardian__Quill/status/1106638375015104513
Is this surprise MCU comeback reminding you of a certain Ant-Man’s iconic return in the Avengers: Endgame trailer?
https://twitter.com/Videogameboypro/status/1106641703119831040
But why did Disney change their minds? Well, one fan thinks they’ve got it sussed.
We all know what happened at Marvel Studios#JamesGunn pic.twitter.com/UXNE8ZIT1b
— Handofpongo 🎃 (@PhMyers_) March 15, 2019
Gunn’s return was first reported by Deadline, before other outlets corroborated the story. The director himself made it clear that the news was 100% official as well when he tweeted for the first time since July, thanking his fans for supporting him during this difficult time and stating his excitement to get back to work.
As fans will know, in the period when he was let go by Marvel Studios, Warner Bros. snapped up Gunn and hired him to direct the upcoming Suicide Squad sequel, titled The Suicide Squad. Interestingly, the filmmaker’s return to the Guardians franchise is not expected to impact on that job at all and in fact, we’ll now have both TSS and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 from him in the next few years, and that can only be a good thing.