In 2018, Disney fired James Gunn from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 in the wake of a series of old Tweets going viral which the filmmaker had already apologised for. Gunn had been vocal on social media about politics, prompting those who disagreed with his viewpoints to weaponize some tasteless jokes he'd once made in a bid to end his career.
While they failed in cancelling him, it looked like Gunn's time in the MCU was indeed over.
Warner Bros., however, didn't hesitate to hire the Guardians helmer to write and direct The Suicide Squad, and after vocal backlash from fans and Marvel actors alike (along with some timely intervention from Marvel Studios), the filmmaker eventually returned to helm Vol. 3.
Taking to Threads over the weekend, Gunn responded to a fan who wondered whether Vol. 3's delayed release date was a result of having to line up with what happened in the Avengers movies or simply because it was a tough movie to write. After all, even taking Gunn's firing into account, he spent a lot of time working on it.
"No. Marvel changed nothing," the DC Studios co-CEO confirmed. "I just had a hard time wrapping things up. And I was running out of steam until I walked away and did The Suicide Squad and came back."
"But even then it was not the most pleasant writing experience I’ve ever had. Just pure willpower pushing it through."
Gunn didn't elaborate beyond that but we'd guess he's referring to both the difficulty of ending this trilogy and the process of exploring Rocket's tragic origin story. The DCU appears to have rejuvenated him, anyway, as he's since penned episodes of Creature Commandos, Peacemaker, and the upcoming Superman: Legacy.
Last year, the writer and director reflected on his firing and the impact it had on him.
"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 explained. "They pulled me onto the life raft. And now we’re able to finish all of this together."
"It was hard," Gunn said of having to briefly 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."
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is now streaming on Disney+.