Even if Disney knew about his years old tweets, James Gunn was still hired to direct Guardians of the Galaxy. And the director managed to make a literally unknown team of superheroes (among which there are a talking raccoon and a tree) a worldwide phenomenon.
However, despite this, Disney fired James Gunn unceremoniously at this year's San Diego Comic Con. And it fired him because of those old tweets.
The director was supposed to make an appearance and announce a new project at the Sony panel. It didn't happen any longer. As Chris Pratt recently said, the firing ruined the Comic Con experience. And not just for the cast of the movie.
Even if anticipated movies debuted trailers, James Gunn's firing was the most-talked event of the convention.
Petitions were signed, actors threatened to quit, and so on. But nothing changed, as far as the decision made is concerned. And nothing will.
In an exclusive report, Variety notes that Gunn and Disney execs have met these days. But the meeting was one of courtesy. It was simply intended to clear the air between the director and the studio and nothing more.
In this way, Variety notes that James Gunn won't return to helm Guardians of the Galaxy 3. Furthermore, Kevin Feige now stands with the studio, as opposed to previous reports which said that he is siding with Gunn.
All in all, the studio now has to quickly find a new writer and director for the threequel. And that is because Guardians of the Galaxy 3 is supposed to be released sometime in 2020. Which, in turn, means that the shooting needs to start next spring.