Marvel's GUARDIANS of the GALAXY Vol. 2: May 5th, 2017 (1 Viewer)

[TravisR]

Good for Disney for reversing course. They never should have fired him in the first place, but at least they made it right.

On the plus side, Disney made themselves look like stupid chumps

 

[holtge]

James Gunn has tweeted about his return -- which -- smartly -- is his first tweet since his apology when he was fired.

James Gunn said: I am tremendously grateful to every single person out there who has supported me for the past few months. I am always learning and will continue to work at being the best human being I can be. I deeply appreciate Disney's decision and I am excited to continue making films that investigate the ties of love that bind us all. I have been, and continue to be incredibly humbled by your love and support. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. Love to you all.

So pleased to see this come to a happy conclusion. Really happy Horn changed his mind about Gunn. What a class act he has been through all of this.

 

[Sam Favate]

BTW, no one (including me) noticed or mentioned yesterday that Gunn is listed as an executive producer for Endgame, same as he was for Infinity War. Perhaps we'll hear more when Feige hits the promotion circuit again next month for the movie.

 

[holtge]

Agreed!

 

[Jake Lipson]

Gunn is listed as an executive producer for Endgame, same as he was for Infinity War.

Since Infinity War and Endgame both shot before Gunn was fired, I'm not surprised. Maybe they couldn't take his name off of it since he had already worked on it before his firing.

Perhaps we'll hear more when Feige hits the promotion circuit again next month for the movie.

I doubt that. If Feige does say anything, it will be, "We're looking forward to getting to work with James again on Vol. 3." The timing of this seems very fortuitous for Endgame. Bradley Cooper, as the only "living" Guardian, would certainly have been asked about the Vol. 3 director situation during press tour for Endgame if it wasn't resolved. So would the others. Now since it is resolved, they can just say "We're all happy to have James back" without derailing the focus of the interviews, which should be about Endgame and celebrating the momentous occasion that it is.

On the plus side, Disney made themselves look like stupid chumps

Yeah they did. However, the alternative would have been worse. If they had made Guardians 3 with anyone else, the whole narrative around the production, release and promotion of that movie would have been "James Gunn should have made this." Now, he is making it, so the cloud has been lifted.

Also -- since he's still doing Suicide Squad for DC first -- maybe he can help bridge the gap with some of the louder fanboys who think you have to be loyal to one and not the other. I'll see a good movie from either one and certainly plan to see both Suicide Squad 2 and Guardians 3.

 

[Lord Dalek]

Also -- since he's still doing Suicide Squad for DC first -- maybe he can help bridge the gap with some of the louder fanboys who think you have to be loyal to one and not the other. I'll see a good movie from either one and certainly plan to see both Suicide Squad 2 and Guardians 3.

Considering this was ultimately just a scam to get Gunn hired by DC and "own the Marvelz", I'm expecting the DC fanbro community to demand his firing from Suicide Squad 2 any day now.

 

[Jake Lipson]

Considering this was ultimately just a scam

Huh?

 

[Sam Favate]

Interesting detail in the story in Hollywood Reporter: It says Disney never met with anyone else to direct the movie, and that talks with Gunn have been going on in secret for months.

If that's true, what were all those names we saw thrown around? Wishful thinking?

 

[dpippel]

If this is true they were probably intentional distractions, just in case the negotiations with Gunn didn't pan out.

 

[Sam Favate]

Sean Gunn at the Captain Marvel premiere, less than two weeks ago:

“I just have this feeling everything’s gonna work itself out."

https://variety.com/2019/film/news/guardians-of-the-galaxy-vol-3-sean-gunn-james-gunn-1203155009/

 

[Jake Lipson]

If that's true, what were all those names we saw thrown around? Wishful thinking?

I think those names were partially fan-driven -- certainly Taika was, he never wanted to do it -- but names came up because we all assumed that Marvel would want to move quickly on the third film. We were wrong.

Since Gunn is doing Suicide Squad 2 first, with an August 2021 release date, the earliest he could turn his full attention to Guardians is probably late 2021/early 2022. So I'm guessing we're looking at 2023 before Vol. 3 actually comes out.

Marvel is making the right choice to put the Guardians on hiatus after Endgame. They're showing remarkable restraint by deciding that it's more important for it to be done correctly by James Gunn versus being done quickly by somebody else.

Guardians Vol. 2 was in 2017. Infinity War heavily featured Guardians characters in 2018. Endgame will presumably feature them again this year. That's three years in a row with Guardians characters in a major role. While it would have been wonderful if Disney never fired him and the third film was already in production and coming out next year, I don't think the franchise will be harmed too much by taking a few years off while Gunn finishes Suicide Squad. There were four years between The Dark Knight and Rises while Christopher Nolan made Inception, and he didn't feature in any other films directed by other people.

they were probably intentional distractions, just in case the negotiations with Gunn didn't pan out.

I'm sure it was just a matter of Disney saying yes to having him back. Once Disney was open to the idea, I don't think there was any chance Gunn would say no (as long as they let him honor his contract with WB first, which, happily, they are.) He cares too much about these characters to let someone else direct it once he had the chance back.

“I just have this feeling everything’s gonna work itself out."

Yeah, I posted when it happened. Now, I bet he knew at that time and couldn't say anything.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Good for Disney for reversing course. They never should have fired him in the first place, but at least they made it right. Their itchy trigger finger on the firing got them a long delay. I think we can live with that. All's well that ends well.

Given the timing of all this, I'm starting to wonder if the firing was done in order to smooth the waters for the Fox acquisition, and now that that's a done deal, they don't have to worry as much about courting controversy.

So pleased to see this come to a happy conclusion. Really happy Horn changed his mind about Gunn. What a class act he has been through all of this.

I think that's key, too: Gunn never got defensive or blamed others, he never said a bad word about Disney. He didn't burn any bridges that would have made it impossible for Disney to reverse their decision. And unlike other celebrity scandals, the resurfaced tweets weren't the tip of an iceberg. Nothing else really damaging has come out in the months since.

BTW, no one (including me) noticed or mentioned yesterday that Gunn is listed as an executive producer for Endgame, same as he was for Infinity War. Perhaps we'll hear more when Feige hits the promotion circuit again next month for the movie.

I did!

 

[Sean Bryan]

I had a huge steaming pile of a day at work and just got home around 10PM, angry and stressed. Didn’t get to look online all day.

Funny how a rare “nice surprise” can turn a shitty day...

 

[Tino]

Somewhere Tino's head is exploding. Didn't he say authoritatively, "no, no way, never, not in a million years," a few times?

Did I? I have to check. Obviously if I did I’m very happy I’m wrong. But seriously I doubt many here expected this outcome. I certainly wasn’t alone in that opinion. Please Malcolm find that quote if you can.

 

[dpippel]

Well, I certainly never expected this to happen. I was sure that Disney and Gunn were finished. I'm also VERY happy to have been wrong.

 

[TravisR]

Well, I certainly never expected this to happen.

After a month, I figured it would never happen and I can't believe anyone still expected it to happen. I was talking to a buddy today who is a huge Marvel fan about Gunn getting rehired and I was laughing that if he had still be saying he hoped that Gunn would be back that I would have just had felt bad for him prior to this afternoon.

 

[Josh Dial]

Did I? I have to check. Obviously if I did I’m very happy I’m wrong. But seriously I doubt many here expected this outcome. I certainly wasn’t alone in that opinion. Please Malcolm find that quote if you can.

No way they rehire him.

Expected. No way Disney was going to rehire him. No. Way.

Look it’s DISNEY. There’s no way they can ever support a director who made pedophila jokes. Never. EVER. It’s DISNEY.

The Gunn issue is dead. Dead and buried. Beaten to death.

No amount of wishing or hoping or petitioning will bring him back. Ever.

It’s DISNEY

Time to move on.

 

[Malcolm R]

Did I? I have to check. Obviously if I did I’m very happy I’m wrong. But seriously I doubt many here expected this outcome. I certainly wasn’t alone in that opinion. Please Malcolm find that quote if you can.

As you wish...

No way they rehire him.

Expected. No way Disney was going to rehire him. No. Way.

Look it’s DISNEY. There’s no way they can ever support a director who made pedophila jokes. Never. EVER. It’s DISNEY.

The Gunn issue is dead. Dead and buried. Beaten to death.

No amount of wishing or hoping or petitioning will bring him back. Ever.

It’s DISNEY

Time to move on.

 

[Tino]

As you wish...

Great. I stand by those quotes as that’s what I and many others thought at the time. However of course I’m ecstatic I was wrong and he’s Back. Never thought it would happen ever. Obviously Terrific news.

 

[Tino]

And be honest Malcolm and Josh. Did you think this was going to happen?