James Gunn breaks silence on getting fired, rehired by Marvel, teases Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3

Filmmaker James Gunn has broken his silence on being fired and rehired by Disney to direct Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3. Gunn had already turned in a screenplay when old offensive tweets of his were unearthed, allegedly by right wing elements whom he was antagonistic against, and he was immediately relieved of his duties.

Gunn told Deadline ‘a part of that day was the worst of my life, and a part of it was the greatest day of my life’. Gunn was fired in July, following which he received massive fan support. The Guardians cast members - Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Pom Klementieff, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel and particularly Dave Bautista - had been vocal in their disapproval of his firing.

Gunn said about the offensive tweets, “I feel bad for that and take full responsibility.” He’d issued an apology at the time, and had since moved on to direct rival DC’s Suicide Squad sequel, which he says he had a blast writing. Gunn will complete work on the film before returning to Guardians 3. “Yes. I was writing Suicide Squad and thought of Guardians 3 as being long gone. I guess it was a possibility for a while, but the initial conversations with Alan (Horn, Disney film chief) weren’t, ‘Let’s figure out if I should come back.’ It was, ‘Let’s talk about this.’ It was like the break-up of my marriage. I got divorced, and then had those conversations with my ex-wife: ‘Let’s get along as well as we possibly can and be kind to each other because we’re both a large part of each other’s lives.’”

He continued, “I wanted to feel that way about Disney. I didn’t want to look back and feel bitter, upset or angry.” He said when he was at his most hopeless, he felt the worst about not being able to complete Rocket Raccoon’s journey. He said, “When you asked me what was saddest for me when I thought it was gone—and anybody at Marvel can tell you—it’s this very strange and attached relationship to Rocket. Rocket is me, he really is, even if that sounds narcissistic. Groot is like my dog. I love Groot in a completely different way. I relate to Rocket and I feel compassion for Rocket, but I also feel like his story has not been completed. He has an arc that started in the first movie, continued into the second and goes through Infinity War and Endgame, and then I was set to really finish that arc in Guardians 3. That was a big loss to me—not being able to finish that story—though I was comforted by the fact that they were still planning to use my script.”

Although Marvel hasn’t officially announced any films beyond Spider-Man: Far From Home, Guardians 3 is expected to be among the several new films, including Black Widow, Shang-Chi, Spider-Man 3, The Eternals that will be announced as part of the Phase V of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

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