Dependent on which side of the fence you may fall, James Gunn, the man behind the Guardians of the Galaxy movies, was either justifiably terminated or unnecessarily fired by The Walt Disney Company late last week. For those of you who don’t know, the House of Mouse decided to let Gunn go after disturbing social media comments made in 2011 resurfaced.
As a result of his dismissal, he was subsequently removed from a panel appearance at San Diego Comic-Con and saw former Presidential candidate, Ted Cruz, stick his nose where it certainly does not belong. Gunn’s discharge has also sparked an absolute storm online and even forced fellow filmmaker Rian Johnson to remove 1,038 tweets over the weekend. Although, I should state that at the moment, the motive behind this mass deletion is unknown.
Truthfully speaking, I’m unsure of where I stand on the matter. That said, the Marvel Cinematic Universe fandom seems pretty steadfast in their opinion, and as such, remain incredibly vocal. Take the below mockup for instance, on which a Redditor has – rather cleverly, I might add – spoofed the studio’s 10th anniversary posters. Initially released last month to celebrate the occasion, the one-sheet has been modified to include James Gunn accompanied by the text overlay: “More Than A 10 Year Old Tweet.”
Since being sacked, Gunn’s issued a statement regarding his firing, claiming that early on his career he viewed himself as a “provocateur” and as such, made movies and told jokes that were “outrageous and taboo.” Ultimately stating that his days “saying something just because it’s shocking and trying to get a reaction are over.” Still, that hasn’t helped his cause much and at the time of writing, his termination from Disney still stands.
Because Gunn’s believed to have completed the script for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 and said feature is scheduled to begin principal photography this January in Atlanta, the MCU fanbase is understandably concerned with Marvel finding a replacement in time. But as the studio now scrambles to do so, we’ll be sure to keep you updated every step of the way.