It's easy to forget, but it was back in 2018 that Disney fired James Gunn after some offensive Tweets from the past resurfaced. The filmmaker had talked a lot on social media about politics, prompting those with opposing viewpoints to dig up some of his tasteless jokes in an effort to cancel him...and it worked. Briefly.
Warner Bros. didn't hesitate to hire Gunn to write and direct The Suicide Squad, and after vocal backlash from fans and Guardians of the Galaxy cast members alike (along with timely intervention from Marvel Studios), the filmmaker returned to helm Vol. 3.
It's unlikely the movie would have happened without him and, after delays caused by Gunn's DC work and the pandemic, we'll finally get to watch the movie early next month.
Talking to Empire, the DC Studios co-CEO reflected on his shock firing.
"We went through this journey where we went into the belly of the beast, and I was thrown out – and the people that I gave life to by hiring, saved me and brought me back into the fold," he tells the site. "They pulled me onto the life raft. And now we’re able to finish all of this together."
"It was hard," he said of having to say goodbye to Guardians of the Galaxy. "But the things I think of from that time are the love that I got from my family and friends. I think of how Zoë Saldaña and her husband came over to fix me a meal the night after it happened. How Karen Gillan and Pom Klementieff came over to just hang out with me, to be my friend."
A new still from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 has also been released with Drax, Nebula, and Mantis looking more than a little worse for wear.
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.
Gunn writes and directs Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which stars Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, featuring Vin Diesel as Groot, Bradley Cooper as Rocket, Sean Gunn, Chukwudi Iwuji, Will Poulter, and Maria Bakalova.
Kevin Feige is the producer and Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Nikolas Korda, Simon Hatt, and Sara Smith serve as executive producers.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 arrives in theaters on May 5, 2023.