The third installment of the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise in the MCEU(Marvel Comics Entertainment Universe) has been embroiled in controversy ever since decades old tweets by writer/director James Gunn were brought to light by far right wing bloggers. Disney wasted no time in giving Gunn the “heave-ho”, even though Gunn admitted the tweets were his, and apologized for the statements made in his more controversial and younger days.
This led to both a fan outcry, and a signed letter from the ENTIRE cast calling for his reinstatement and they stood behind him as a “family”. There were rumors that Marvel was trying to broker a settlement of sorts to both use Gunn’s script, and get him back in the directors chair. Actors such as Bautista and Sean Gunn, have publically denounced the firing and have been very vocal in their feelings of NOT wanting to do the third film with ANYONE else in the directors chair.
Disney had announced that some pre production had begun, which made fans think a solution was soon at hand, but in the past few days, those working on the film have been told that they can “look for other work”. While this is only being viewed as “temporary”, who knows how long the “hold” will be for.
Bautista continued his campaign of “shaming Disney” by once again sharing offensive tweets by right wing blogger Mike Cernovich that show his behavior to be worse than anything Gunn ever joked about. It is viewed that the rest of the cast while not publically endorsing Bautista’s POV, are at least in support of him in the background.
What happens now, is anyone’s guess…..Gunn was slated to remain onboard as a writer, so Marvel could use his script, but the situation has basically gone the way of two sides, one “pro Gunn”, and Disney on the other side. How long will the Mouse roar, and how much fan support will Disney/Marvel lose before this is worked out?
