Even with a cast letter and the promise of one star quitting should the script be scrapped, Variety is reporting that Disney has officially decided against re-hiring James Gunn, the director of the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise who was recently fired due to harmful tweets joking about pedophilia. Rumors were swirling around that Marvel was considering rehiring Gunn, but Variety’s article makes it clear that Disney is putting their foot down when it comes to the decision.
According to sources, Gunn and his UTA rep met with Disney to present his case. Disney chairman Alan Horn met with him as a courtesy. However, Horn ultimately decided to stay the studio’s current course. Marvel head Kevin Feige was reportedly out of town, and sources also claim that he was in support of Gunn’s rehiring; however Feige will stand by the studio’s decision regardless.
This is the latest episode of the drama surrounding Gunn’s firing. Petitions have circled to have the ousted director reinstated, but it looks like nothing will sway Disney from their course. Once more, though, we will have to endure another round of discussions over whether or not Gunn’s firing was deserved. The usual arguments on both sides will be trotted out, and I have little interest in commenting either way at this point in time, having made my thoughts on the subject clear.
What I will say is that Gunn is already being courted by other franchises and studios and that’s all we need to know on the matter. Gunn’s career will not be negatively impacted in any way by this; he still has his devoted fans, his position of power, and everything except the Guardians franchise, which he notably took away from a female writer. This is just a final note in this story, and soon everyone involved will move on to other projects, because as I said in my op-ed on the subject, Gunn and his career will be fine. It’s time to accept the consequences for his actions and move forward; his fans could learn the same.
(Source: Variety; Image: Getty Images)
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