Marvel Studios
"Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2"
- Disney CEO Bob Iger told The Hollywood Reporter that the decision to fire "Guardians of the Galaxy" director James Gunn was brought to him "as a unanimous decision of a variety of executives at the studio and I supported it."
- "I haven't second-guessed their decision," he added.
- Disney fired Gunn in July after years-old offensive tweets of his resurfaced.
- The "Guardians of the Galaxy 3" production has been put on hold.
Fans still hoping that Disney will change its mind about firing "Guardians of the Galaxy" director James Gunn should lower their expectations. Disney CEO Bob Iger doesn't regret the decision.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Iger revealed his involvement in the decisions both to fire Gunn after offensive tweets of his resurfaced, and to cancel ABC's "Roseanne" reboot after star Roseanne Barr made racist remarks on Twitter.
"I would say there is a blend of my helping to make the decision to my supporting the decisions that have been made," Iger told THR. "'Roseanne' was completely unanimous. We discussed how it would be communicated and when because there were a number of entities that had to be properly filled in, but the decision was completely unanimous. The James Gunn decision was brought to me as a unanimous decision of a variety of executives at the studio and I supported it."
He added, "I haven't second-guessed their decision."
Disney fired Gunn from the third "Guardians" movie in July after conservative personalities uncovered years-old tweets - which Gunn had apologized for in the past - where he made offensive jokes about child abuse. Gunn had finished the script to "Guardians of the Galaxy 3" before he was fired.
Since then, the "Guardians" cast released a letter in support of Gunn, and franchise stars like Chris Pratt and Dave Bautista tweeted that they wished to see him reinstated. Bautista has been the most vocal against Disney - he has called working for the company "nauseating" and even threatened to quit if Marvel didn't use Gunn's script.
Last month, THR reported that the "Guardians 3" production has been put on hold indefinitely. It's unknown whether it will make its 2020 release date.