James Gunn directed the first two Guardians of the Galaxy movies. (Source: Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)Marvel Studios head honcho Kevin Feige says James Gunn, the director of the MCU’s Guardians of the Galaxy series, was not as involved with the workings of the Marvel Cinematic Universe as many think. He says Gunn’s role has been slightly blown out of proportion.
While speaking with Cinemablend, Feige said, “His influence was Guardians. It was Guardians. It was his input on Guardians and the Avengers films, as you’ve seen in Infinity War, and on the Guardians 3 script, which we’re still using. So you’ll see that influence. I think online, sort of the notion of ‘architect across multiple cosmic things’ was slightly blown out of proportion.”
James Gunn was fired by Disney after his old controversial tweets were made public by American conservatives. In those tweets ranging from 2009 to 2014, Gunn appeared to joke about rape and child abuse. He was fired within hours from every Disney property.
Gunn directed both the Guardians films, co-wrote the first and wrote the second. He had also written the first draft of the third film’s script, and Chris Pratt, who plays the role of Peter Quill in Guardians films, confirmed that the third will film will utilise Gunn’s script.
It was the first Guardians of the Galaxy that first introduced Thanos as a character in a film. Before that he had been only mentioned and appeared in a post-credit scene. Both films were critical and commercial successes.
After his dismissal, James Gunn has been hired by Disney’s rival Warner Bros for a Suicide Squad film, which Gunn is writing and directing. It is not clear if it will be a reboot or a sequel, or something in between.
