Disney Chairman Reflects On Firing James Gunn From Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3

Back in July of last year, director James Gunn was fired from the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 for incendiary tweets that were posted prior to his involvement with Marvel Studios. And while the fans have since come to begrudgingly accept that Gunn won’t be coming back to the series, one important question left by the whole messy affair is how Disney intends to avoid such incidents in the future.

The subject came up in a recent interview with Walt Disney Studios chairman Alan Horn, who was asked by The Hollywood Reporter if the company has started checking the social media histories of people they intend to recruit. In response, the industry executive suggested that while he doesn’t regard such measures as necessary, he feels the onus is on the people they hire to watch what they say online.

“I would say no. I don’t think we do extensive background checks to see what a person has said. I feel sad for some of the people ensnared in all of this. And sometimes I feel like, ‘Wow, what they said is so outrageous that it must have occurred to them that it would have repercussions.’ It’s a very open world now, and this stuff is a matter of record. The admonition is: Be careful.”

While Gunn is no longer at the helm for the next Guardians of the Galaxy movie, Vol. 3 will apparently still be using the filmmaker’s script, which Chris Pratt had some kind words to say about earlier this month. That being said, it’s likely that the threequel will be completing its journey to cinemas a lot later than previously planned, seeing how the project has yet to find its director. And given the interconnectivity of the MCU, you can imagine that the film’s late release may necessitate a few alterations to Gunn’s script to ensure that it still slots in with the wider continuity of the franchise.

In any case, though a release date for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 has yet to be set, there’s a good chance that Gunn’s take on another comic book property will be reaching our screens first, with The Suicide Squad scheduled for release on August 6th, 2021.