Update: James Gunn responds to being reinstated as Guardians 3 director

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Update: Not long after news broke that James Gunn has been reinstated as the director of Disney's GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3, the redeemed filmmaker took to his personal Instagram account to thank all involved who've helped support him throughout an unquestionably tumultuous time in his career. In the post, Gunn makes it a point to mention that he continues to monitor his own behavior, as part of his journey toward becoming a better human. He also expresses his deep appreciation for Disney giving him a second chance to complete the trilogy he's worked so hard to build over the past few years.

You can see Gunn's post for yourself below:

Original Article

Well how do you like that? According to an exclusive report published by Deadline Hollywood, they've confirmed that Disney has reinstated filmmaker James Gunn as the writer-director of GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY 3.

As the story goes, Gunn was fired from the production of Marvel's follow-up to GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2 after alt-right journalists shined a spotlight on a series of the filmmaker's decade-old social media posts, which included jokes related to the topics of pedophilia and rape. After Gunn was dismissed from the project, he'd met with Walt Disney Studios president Alan Horn to sort the matter. The pair had reportedly met on several occasions, during which time Gunn had publicly apologized for his actions. Seeing Gunn's efforts as genuine, Horn has decided to welcome the SLITHER filmmaker back into the Guardians fold.

Obviously, Horn's decision is bound to cause a stir among fans and members of the Hollywood elite alike. For some, this will feel like a victory, as Gunn did take full responsibility for his actions and posed no public objection to Disney's call at any time. The school of thought here is that people should be given the chance to redeem themselves, especially when displaying genuine remorse for their abhorrent actions. Obviously, I'm not saying that this is the case for all things, certainly not. Though in a time when celebrities are being outed left and right for being pieces of human garbage, it's somewhat comforting to know that there is a light at the end of the tunnel for select individuals.

Thankfully, Gunn's re-appointment to the Guardians franchise will not thwart him from serving as the director-writer of SUICIDE SQUAD for Warner Bros. and DC. In fact, it's already been decided that Gunn will begin production on GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY 3 after his work on SUICIDE SQUAD is complete.

For the time being, we've no idea where GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3 will land as a part of the MCU's now-mysterious timeline. What we do know is that Gunn will be permitted to use his original script for the sequel, which Marvel had planned on using even before the SUPER director climbed back aboard the franchise. We also know that Guardians stars Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Sean Gunn, Michael Rooker and Pom Klementieff were all but destroyed when Gunn was let go from the project. I would be very curious to hear their reactions to this news in the coming days, particularly Bautista's take, who'd been the most vocal about his objection to Disney's decision.

As your attorney I would advise you to buckle up, True Believers, as there's bound to be some who will not take kindly to this news.

With that in mind, let us know what you think about Disney re-hiring James Gunn for GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3 in the comments section below. Are you all for his return, or do you see this development as a black mark on Disney's already checkered past?