Guardians Of The Galaxy 3's James Gunn Fired By Disney After Old Tweets Surface

The tale of the misfits that comprise the Guardians of the Galaxy will see their trilogy concluded with someone other than James Gunn in the director's chair. Gunn, who served as the writer and director for the first two Guardians movies, has been fired by Disney. The news confirmed the news in the midst of San Diego Comic-Con 2018, where Marvel was not expected to have any major news. [Update: Guardians star Dave Bautista has come out in support of Gunn, as has actress Selma Blair. Subsequently, the core Guardians cast also did so.]

This move comes after old tweets of Gunn's surfaced online. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the controversial messages--which date back almost a decade--see the director joking about topics like pedophilia and rape.

Disney issues a statement confirming that it was parting ways with Gunn. Walt Disney Studios chairman Alan Horn said, "The offensive attitudes and statements discovered on James' Twitter feed are indefensible and inconsistent with our studio's values, and we have severed our business relationship with him."

Gunn's tweets were resurfaced online by conservative website The Daily Caller. Gunn has since published a series of tweets on his Twitter account in which he does not deny authoring the messages. Instead, he attempts to apologize and explain the messages.

"Many people who have followed my career know when I started, I viewed myself as a provocateur, making movies and telling jokes that were outrageous and taboo. As I have discussed publicly many times, as I've developed as a person, so has my work and my humor. It's not to say I'm better, but I am very, very different than I was a few years ago; today I try to root my work in love and connection and less in anger. My days saying something just because it's shocking and trying to get a reaction are over.

"In the past, I have apologized for humor of mine that hurt people. I truly felt sorry and meant every word of my apologies. For the record, when I made these shocking jokes, I wasn't living them out. I know this is a weird statement to make, and seems obvious, but, still, here I am, saying it. Anyway, that's the completely honest truth: I used to make a lot of offensive jokes. I don't anymore. I don't blame my past self for this, but I like myself more and feel like a more full human being and creator today. Love you to you all."

Gunn had teased that a new, non-Guardians project of his would be revealed at SDCC on Friday during the Sony Pictures panel. According to Variety, he's no longer expected to make an appearance at the panel, which is no shock--it would be a real surprise for him to show up with this news having only just broken. Whether he moves ahead with whatever that project is (possibly the horror movie we heard about previously) remains to be seen. We'll report back if Sony acknowledges the news or Gunn's project during its panel.

Guardians of the Galaxy 3 had been set for release in 2020, though Gunn's removal could affect that. The events of Avengers: Infinity War stand to have a potential impact on the film, though Avengers 4--due out next year--could always make further changes. Without saying how, Gunn had previously teased that Guardians 3 would be "very different."

Aside from his contributions to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Gunn is also known for writing and directing the movie Super.

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