When some offensive past Tweets resurfaced in 2018, Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn was unceremoniously fired by Disney. It was a strange situation as the tasteless jokes made by the filmmaker were from years before he was even hired by Marvel Studios. As a result, it felt like a knee-jerk reaction on the studio's part at a time when social media was being used to "cancel" celebrities.
The franchise's cast wasted no time in speaking out, sharing a statement decrying Disney's actions signed by Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldaña, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, Bradley Cooper (the voice of Rocket), Vin Diesel, Sean Gunn, and Michael Rooker.
Fans, meanwhile, also shared their anger, with over 400,000 of them signing a petition demanding Gunn be re-hired. Ultimately, Disney relented, and The Suicide Squad helmer was given the chance to return to the MCU to helm this May's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
Talking to Empire (via CBR), 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."
At the time, Bautista was quick to say he would not return as Drax without Gunn being behind the camera, and it now appears the rest of the cosmic franchise's cast felt the same way. While it's unclear how they would have gone about quitting the MCU, it would not have been a good look for Marvel Studios to force them into starring in a third Guardians of the Galaxy movie when they didn't want to be there!
In the same interview, Gunn said he was "bummed" and traumatized by his firing, adding: "It was hard. But the things I think of from that time are the love that I got from my family and friends."
In Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, our beloved band of misfits are looking a bit different these days. Peter Quill, still reeling from the loss of Gamora, must rally his team around him to defend the universe along with protecting one of their own. A mission that, if not completed successfully, could quite possibly lead to the end of the Guardians as we know them.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 arrives in theaters on May 5, 2023.