Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3has been a long time coming, and that was in no small part down to the temporary firing of writer/director James Gunn back in 2018. While discussing the upcoming movie withEmpiremagazine, franchise star Karen Gillan explained how at the time of Gunn’s removal from the third Guardians movie the cast all had very strong feelings about how they would deal with it.
The firing ofJames Gunnwas instigated by the resurfacing of some historical tweets by the director which were seen to be controversial. As an almost knee-jerk reaction, Disney took the decision to fire Gunn, something which they later tracked back on, but not before they essentially set the ball rolling on Gunn eventually becoming the head of DC Studios. In the time it took Disney to bring Gunn back to Marvel Studios he had already been hired by Warner Bros. to writer and directThe Suicide Squad, the movie that would put him well and truly on their radar.
There was a lot of uncertainty aroundGuardians of the Galaxy 3at the time, and according to Gillan the film could have hit an even bigger sticking point thanks to the cast making a plan over how to handle the sacking. Gillan said:
“We talked to each other as a cast and formed a plan. All of us were on the same page: we didn’t really want to do it without him.”
Related:James Gunn Hits Back at Fan Criticism of His Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 Promotion
When news of James Gunn’s firing broke, there were many online discussions over whether it should have happened or not. While he apologized over the content of the tweets in question, their original appearance after many years led many to believe that the sacking should never have happened. At the time, Guardians star Dave Bautista expressed his frustration, noting, “I don’t know if I wanna work for Disney.”
In the latest edition ofEmpire, Gunn addressed how the support of fans, friends, the cast of the Guardians movies and even Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige all helped him through the worst of it. That support also included a 400,000 signature-strong petition for him to be reinstated. All in all it was something that Disney couldn’t just ignore. Gunn said:
“It was hard, but the things I think of from that time are the love that I got from my family and friends. Maybe if it just went away, it wouldn’t have been on people’s minds. But the fans didn’t let it go. The press didn’t let it go. The cast didn’t let it go. It made it hard to ignore.”
In the grand scheme of things, everything worked out pretty well for Gunn at the end of it. Having been able tocomplete hisGuardians of the Galaxytrilogy, and bring along the Holiday Special for good measure, he was also able to switch over to DC Studios and ultimately become the man would could finally bring a cognitive DC universe together where so many have failed.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3will be released in cinemas on May 5.
