James Gunn Fired as Director of 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3'

[batfan08]

These tweets seem totally indefensible on the surface... but this guy got his start working in troma movies. In fact, when Disney first hired him, I was very surprised and admire the fact that they were willing to take a risk with somebody who had been involved with a company that was so ridiculously over-the-top in terms of being lewd and defensive. It was the equivalent of hiring John Waters to direct one of their movies. I'm a bit baffled as to why they would now decide that the kind of provocative, over-the-top, insane humor of the troma world that helped to get him the job in the first place his a justifiable reason to fire the guy. But then I realize that the only difference is that we live in a Time right now where someone's tweets are enough to ruin a career. And just one tweet can do it as happened with Roseanne. Six seven years ago this would not have been the case. And clearly wasn't since, again, Disney hired the guy knowing good and well who he was and what he had done. I knew it, so if they didn't then they were totally derelict in their duties. Even super was a really over-the-top and defensive movie and its own way. Though nothing compared to some of the troma stuff of course.

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“You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to karamazov80 again.” This.

 

[karamazov80]

If I were Warner Brothers, I would be on the phone with this guy's agent right now trying to hire him. Any public backlash they get is going to be far outweighed by the creativity and heart that he can build into a superhero type movie.

He's like an anti Zack Snyder.

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[batfan08]

If I were Warner Brothers, I would be on the phone with this guy's agent right now trying to hire him. Any public backlash they get is going to be far outweighed by the creativity and heart that he can build into a superhero type movie.

He's like an anti Zack Snyder.

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That’s what rings so mindbogglingly hollow about Disney’s response. They knew exactly who he was and the sort of thing he was known for and it’s the reason they hired him! Fast forward to 2018 and they’re firing him for it. It’s absurd.

 

[karamazov80]

I guess they're going to have to fire Robert Downey jr. now, once they discover that he was a drug addict who used to do crazy things such as crawling naked into someone's crib or whatever it was.

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[Khev]

Feige just announced that Roman Polanski will be directing GotG 3. Apparently that guy's never been on social media so should be a pretty clean slate as far as controversies are concerned.

 

[batfan08]

That's not Trump mocking a reporter's disability, that's simply CNN and the rest of the liberal media fabricating context that wasn't there. Trump does those same hand motions anytime he mocks someone (including Republican opponents like Ted Cruz):



Is it juvenile? Yes. Is it unfortunate that that one reporter turned out to have a real disability? Also yes. But it's also the 10 millionth time the media twisted the truth against Trump in order to make a mountain out of a mole hill.

I still say it’s a hell of a coincidence if it isn’t, but what of his comments on women? He ignores it and waits for it to blow over and it does. Why? Because his supporters think he’s the only man in America who shouldn’t be held accountable for his actions. If this whole James Gunn thing surfaced from, like, some Jezebel exposé or some ultra left wing cadre of perpetually offended individuals, I wouldn’t bat an eye. I would expect it from them, but when FOX News parades this around as though it’s indisputable evidence of some Hollywood sex trafficking cabal? It’s pathetic and only further highlights their hypocrisy.

 

[dan350zr]

That’s what rings so mindbogglingly hollow about Disney’s response. They knew exactly who he was and the sort of thing he was known for and it’s the reason they hired him! Fast forward to 2018 and they’re firing him for it. It’s absurd.

Back in 2009 if you made crude perverted jokes like that people would just say "What's wrong with you? knock it off and grow up".... Now in 2018 it's "Burn him alive !!!"

Disney knew who he was when they started working with him and they were ok with it, I guess they figured he grew up.. But if Disney didn't fire him there would be protests and threats of boycotts from both the left and the right... It was a no win situation for Disney...

 

[Khev]

I still say it’s a hell of a coincidence if it isn’t, but what of his comments on women?

They're absolutely disgusting. On that I'll always agree with you.

 

[Chakor]

In before the lock.

 

[karamazov80]

Back in 2009 if you made crude perverted jokes like that people would just say "What's wrong with you? knock it off and grow up".... Now in 2018 it's "Burn him alive !!!"

Disney knew who he was when they started working with him and they were ok with it, I guess they figured he grew up.. But if Disney didn't fire him there would be protests and threats of boycotts from both the left and the right... It was a no win situation for Disney...

I think you are correct, in that the reason this happened was that Disney, similar to how they handled the Roseanne situation not long ago, wanted to avoid a public backlash and a negative public relations situation. But I think they are overreacting, in both cases. In the United States historically, we liked to give people Second Chances, and accept that people make mistakes, in the case of Roseanne, or can change, in the case of James Gunn, who clearly has become a more white bread and corporately appealing figure since he has joined Disney.

But across the board we see this major backlash against anybody who makes any kind of mistake nowadays. And more and more often we see a backlash when someone didn't seem to do anything all that bad at all. Or when there is no evidence to support accusations. Frankly, it's very worrisome to me. Somebody has a bad date like the Azari guy, or someone has a girlfriend say a negative thing about him that isn't substantiated by any other evidence like the Hardwick guy, and their careers can be dealt major blows or even be ended right away. And worse, there seems to be a kind of equivalency drawn between those situations and something truly heinous like Harvey Weinstein. I don't agree with it. We are all human beings and everyone makes mistakes. But I guess that's the world we live in today. Everybody is so damn sensitive.

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[Otomofan]

Obviously your mind is made up so you'll never watch this, an OH GOD it's from Fox News so obviously is all lies and propaganda, but here. Here is your PROOF that he didn't mock a handicapped guy. Please watch.



EDIT: I'm not defending Donald J. Trump as a human being. He's seemed like a royal grade A ******* since I first became aware of him as a kid in the 80s. But if you're gonna hate him, please hate him for things he actually did, not stuff that was made up. There's plenty of ACTUAL stuff he's done on the record to dislike him for.

 

[Khev]

I also can't help but wonder if Disney is partly doing this to appear "fair" to conservatives upset about the Roseanne deal. Which would make it even more absurd. "Look we're sacrificing one of our own to show that firing Roseanne wasn't political." How about they just *stop* the bull**** firings and call it a day?

 

[Popnfresh98]

Don’t know why everyone’s getting so political about it.

I mean James Gunn endorses this kind of reaction himself:




.....

 

[Otomofan]

I bet it has nothing to do with anything political but it's about what's really the bottom line in ALL cases: $$$.

Maybe he started making some serious demands on GOTG 3 based on his past success. Disney smirked at his chutzpah and pressed the button and had him "unpersoned."

Next director will take the lower fee, no cut of the back end, no cut of the merch, and be perfectly happy about it.

 

[ShadowX81]

He is absolutely getting a free pass. For all the vitriol, he has an army of blindly loyal acolytes who refuse to even acknowledge the man’s faults and who will defend him to the last breath when he says or does reprehensible things. I don’t necessarily agree that people saying untoward things should be a fireable offense, but, if that’s the world we’re living in, we might as well hold everyone to the same set of standards, should we not?

Followers that are also viciously attacked and called every reprehensible thing by everyone in the media, on college campuses, and in Hollywood. In some cases just for being out in public. If everyone in society is calling for your death and its considered acceptable, is that really getting a free pass?
And you are correct that everyone should be held to the same standards. Which is why Gunn should have gotten a pass on this too.

Especially because RDJ is one of the faces of this franchise and god only knows what skeletons are hidden away in his closet.

 

[Choryujin]

People, we are missing the most important part in all of this. What happened to the monkey from that Max Keeble movie in James' story? Was he ostracized from Hollywood or was he on drugs and went to rehab for his "incident"? Enquiring minds want to know!

 

[ShadowGuardian]

When I first saw this on Reddit my mind instantly went to "great, another person's career getting destroyed for a couple comments 10 years ago."

But man. After looking into it further and seeing just how far Gunn went with all his tweets, and the sheer massive amount of them? Yeah it's completely unacceptable and it's no wonder Disney let him go. HOWEVER, Disney has obviously known about this ever since they hired him. As much as I love GOTG 1+2, on a pure moral basis Gunn probably shouldn't have been hired by the family friendly company to begin with if they weren't comfortable with his past. Gunn did apologize for it and course correct way back in 2012 thought so it seems stupid to fire him now. The only reason Disney has fired him now is because they would get bad press to keep him on. Gunn get's screwed and Disney is made out to be a hero in the public eye.

GOTG 3 might be doomed now, at least in terms of staying in line with the previous 2 entries. Also to think Gunn most likely knows major Avengers 4 spoilers and Disney just let him off the leash....

 

[karamazov80]

Don’t know why everyone’s getting so political about it.

I mean James Gunn endorses this kind of reaction himself:

View attachment 419192


.....

I guess this explains why he isn't fighting this. It would be hypocricy if he did. If an actor or actress can be held accountable by firing for social media posts in his mind, then what's good for the goose is good for the gander.

But selfishly, I am bummed by his being fired because he made enjoyable movies. I didn't love Guardians of the Galaxy 2, but I sure enjoyed it, and would have enjoyed seeing him do another one. But as others have pointed out, this does open the door for someone else to step in and give it a shot.

Taika would be a great choice, but there are lots of other talented creative minds out there who might also be able to bring something fun and interesting to the table.

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[ShadowGuardian]

I saw someone make this comment, and I only share it because I think it's very relevant to the topic at hand:

"Digging up old public statements is problematic, however. It implies that we can never change or develop as people, which runs counter to the purpose of the movement."

Disney has valid reasoning and this is a perfect example of past actions coming back to bite you in the butt, but then again Gunn does seem like a different man today. Should RDJ be fired for his history before Iron Man now, even though he's obviously grown as a person too?

 

[a-dev]

I'm at a place now where I ****ing despise both the right and the left. Doesn't even have to be the extreme of either. I'm just sick and tired of it all. I long for a time when politics wasn't in everything I see and hear. I'm probably both racist and sexist and every other 'ist' for even saying this. Don't even know what side to be on anymore, my face is so permanently buried in my palm.