Home Entertainment Disney stands their ground on James Gunn decision; the director will not be returning for third Guardians of the Galaxy film

Disney stands their ground on James Gunn decision; the director will not be returning for third Guardians of the Galaxy film

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This past month has been quite a tumultuous one for James Gunn and Guardians of the Galaxy fans. Their hopes and dreams of a third chapter in Gunn’s space adventures keeping going up and down with news that he may or may not return to the franchise.

Following controversial tweets by the director, Disney promptly fired Gunn, only to receive a massive amount of backlash from the film’s cast showing disappointment in Disney’s decision, which they viewed as hypocrisy, considering Gunn’s statements had been made many years before he was actually hired and the director has subsequently changed. Disney was holding its ground though and it was only when we received news last week that Marvel is looking to fight for Gunn as well, that you got the feeling the decision could finally be overturned. Afterall, Marvel is only bringing in about a bajillions dollars for the studio each year.

Turns out though that even Marvel’s clout is not enough as Variety reports that Disney is standing by their decision and will not be reinstating Gunn a the director. The decision was apparently made following a meeting between Gunn and studio chairman Alan Horn. This is news that is going to be a huge disappointment to many fans, as it could be argued that the whole reason the Guardians of the Galaxy were successful was because of Gunn’s humour, personality and delightfully quirky musical taste. Removing those from any future Guardians project and you have to wonder whether there is a point in watching them at all.

For me, I guess it’s not too surprising that Disney has decided to stick to their decision, as those tweets do go against their values and the studio is just trying to distance themselves from them. It is sad for Gunn though who has changed considerably during this time, but that old adage that a leopard never changes their spots is perhaps of concern here and Disney wouldn’t want to associate with those views should they turn out to be anything more than just tweets.

What I guess will be of bigger interest here is what will happen to the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise. It’s hard to see Gunn coming back from this and so I think it’s fair to say that he is well and truly out of Marvel for good now. Is there a point to making a third movie at all though without him? While the actors might all be contracted for a third film, perhaps it’s best to just leave the story wherever it may lie at the end of the fourth Avengers film and call it a day from there?

I guess that’s what I would like to see happen here, but then again, I’m not Kevin Feige. The Marvel Studios boss has proven to the world that he knows how to make superhero films pretty much better than anyone and so I’m sure he has some ideas on what to do and will probably be announcing them to the world in the near future. That future probably being after the fourth Avenger’s film to avoid any potential for spoilers.

Last Updated: August 16, 2018

30 Comments

  1. Original Heretic

    August 16, 2018 at 09:09

    DC should hire him and get him to make a great DC film.
    Fuck Disney.

    Reply

    • Skittle

      August 16, 2018 at 09:28

      Meh, Disney’s core values are family focused so firing someone who once said “I fucked the shit out of the little pussy boy next to me” makes sense.

      Reply

      • Original Heretic

        August 16, 2018 at 09:32

        As if Disney’s past is squeaky clean.
        They have changed over the years to become what they are now.

        Reply

      • RinceThis

        August 16, 2018 at 10:02

        Um, the same Disney that was as racist as all hell a few decades ago?

        Reply

        • Original Heretic

          August 16, 2018 at 10:04

          ^^^
          Racism was only one of their things.

          Reply

          • RinceThis

            August 16, 2018 at 12:06

            yeah, I was being nice 🙂

          • Original Heretic

            August 16, 2018 at 12:08

            FUCK’EM! They’re not being nice, they don’t deserve any niceness.

          • RinceThis

            August 16, 2018 at 12:18

            true, fuck you Disney!

          • Alien Emperor Trevor

            August 16, 2018 at 12:31

            Oh boy!

          • RinceThis

            August 16, 2018 at 12:53

            Careful, I know a small girl who would fall off her chair if you said that to her!

          • Alien Emperor Trevor

            August 16, 2018 at 13:11

            Is it you?

        • Skittle

          August 16, 2018 at 10:36

          Yes, the very same Disney. You should probably think a little deeper about the racist tag (yes they were horribly racist) but that was in another era and society had very different opinions, values and beliefs than what we have today, I don’t think any of the people responsible for the blackface cartoons etc work for the company today (are they even alive?). It is not a good argument.

          Reply

          • RinceThis

            August 16, 2018 at 10:52

            It wasn’t ONLY racist. And I was making that point that they were ONCE diks, like Gunn.

    • Kervyn Cloete

      August 16, 2018 at 11:26

      WB already reached out to him. A bunch of other big studios as well. He’s definitely not going to lack for work.

      Reply

  2. Skittle

    August 16, 2018 at 09:25

    I enjoyed GotG1 but the second film seemed to drag on so I won’t be bothered whether or not a third one is made.

    Reply

    • Alien Emperor Trevor

      August 16, 2018 at 09:31

      Yeah I enjoyed the first way more than the second. Seems like going bigger they ended up making it shallower, too many of the jokes fell flat.

      Reply

      • For the Emperor!

        August 16, 2018 at 09:42

        The opening jokes felt a bit forced for me in the second one. It got better later, but yeah it did start a bit “try hard”

        Reply

  3. Magoo

    August 16, 2018 at 09:32

    To assume that Disney have gotten as far as they have in Hollywood while staying away from pedophiles is laughable.

    Reply

    • Original Heretic

      August 16, 2018 at 09:33

      ^^^this.

      There are numerous stories of pedophilia being rife in the film industry.

      Reply

  4. For the Emperor!

    August 16, 2018 at 09:46

    Look, I don’t think he should have been fired in such a knee-jerk way. Perhaps the movie should have been delayed by a month or two while the situation was further investigated?

    But in the end I am not angry about the firing given how he did not mind the mob mentality when it went against people he didn’t like. I still wish this mob mentality and “guilty even if proven innocent” mania would end, regardless whether I like the affected person or not.

    *PS: I am no angel myself, which is why I would not join the mobs.

    Reply

  5. RinceThis

    August 16, 2018 at 10:02

    If said leopard doesn’t change it’s spots, then Disney is a still a racist company.

    Reply

    • Magoo

      August 16, 2018 at 13:56

      And then technically Volkswagen is a nazi.

      Reply

  6. Craig "CrAiGiSh" Dodd

    August 16, 2018 at 10:38

    Wow … Disney … just wow …

    No true GOTG3 then it seems.

    Reply

  7. Geoffrey Tim

    August 16, 2018 at 12:40

    GotG2 was rubbish. Maybe a new director might mean the third one isn’t?

    Reply

    • Admiral Chief

      August 17, 2018 at 10:53

      It wasn’t rubbish, but it was inferior to the first

      Reply

    • Tbone187

      August 20, 2018 at 11:05

      The concept was crap imo. i..e Making Ego his dad was a tad silly but the execution wasn’t too bad I suppose.

      Reply

  8. Tbone187

    August 20, 2018 at 11:11

    Another tweet, another job loss! When will people learn. Serves them well if you ask me.

    Reply

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