Guardians of the Galaxy James gunn fired!!! - Part 1

[JannTosh]

if you've seen Infinity War you know they don't have to worry about Zoe Saldana


the rest besides Pratt honestly are kind of expendable

 

[Smurphftw]

People in here talking about how James Gunn is essential to GOTG and how he is the DNA of the franchise and I'm just sat here thinking "Did the same crew that made the first movie work on the second? Because it doesn't look like it. The first one was cool and charming, vol. 2 was just, eh...".

James Gunn is not essential to GOTG.

I thought the sequel was superior to the first one.

 

[Captain Marvel]

GotG can easily survive the replacement of Gunn. For one, the script is already written, so that's set in stone. All they need is a director, and Marvel already has a relationship with a great director who can produce a really great film with a similar tone, Taika Waititi. So the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise will go on just fine, and may even be better. It wouldn't be the first time that film franchises in the MCU changed hands from one director to another and ended up the better for it.

As for Gunn, he made his bed and now he has to lie in it. Let's keep a few things in mind, here:

1) He didn't make one, or two, or three off-color pedophilia and rape jokes. He made a lot! A ridiculous number of those. Those weren't passing spur of the moment thoughts, but things percolating in his head all the time. Nobody talks that much about pedophilia unless they're thinking about it a lot.

2) He didn't just make jokes. Some of his tweets are him outright interacting with pedophiles. He responded positively to some guy who sent him a link to a video about underage girls. A guy later convicted of being in possession of child porn. He retweeted some other guy talking about how much he enjoyed his first NAMBLA meeting. Who does that, particularly the latter, if they're not pedophiles? Have you ever known anyone positively talk about attending NAMBLA meetings? Have you ever known anyone who actually retweeted someone talking about how happy they were attending a NAMBLA meeting? People say they're just jokes, but they're not just jokes. Not all of it. Combine that with the sheer number of tweets he makes, there's a clear fascination with pedophilia on his part.

3) If he's a pedophile, then there's a serious risk that he's acted on those urges. Pedophiles act on their urges. That's what they do. And if he felt so emboldened that he felt he could publicly tweet about pedophilia for years on end, then God only knows how emboldened he felt in real life. This is Hollywood, after all, where people get away with sexual assault for years because the victims are afraid to challenge the celebrity status of their attacker, or sex abusers are outright applauded by the Hollywood elite (Remember when they stood up and cheered convicted pedophile Roman Polanski?). Look how long Bill Cosby, Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey, and Bryan Singer got away with the things they did. They were pretty flagrant about their crimes, but their celebrity protected them, just as it might be protecting Gunn.

The issue isn't just tweets in poor taste, but the very real possibility that Gunn is a predator, and he needs to be investigated ASAP.

 

[Captain Marvel]

Well, we saw what happened with Iron Man 3...

Yes, but we also saw what happened when Thor left the hands of Alan Taylor and was entrusted to Taika Waititi. Or when Captain America and the Avengers were taken out of the hands of Joe Johnston and Joss Whedon and put into the hands of the Russo Brothers. And it's not as if Iron Man 2 was a cinematic masterpiece, by any stretch of the imagination. Jon Favreau was 1-for-2 when it came to Iron Man.

 

[DACrowe]

Kudos to the cast. They did the right thing. I know Disney won't change their mind, but at least they're reminding us why the Guardians are the best Marvel franchise. They probably also know the next one is almost certain to be blah without Gunn. Still, they came.

 

[DACrowe]

The GotG cast is CANCELLED.

First, they are NOT the Guardians of the Galaxy. They are actors who play the role of fictional characters and can be easily replaced.

Second, testifying to Gunn's good character is laughable. Even before these huge amount of pedo/rape Tweets Gunn was proving himself to be a hate-monger and a political hack. James Gunn deserves worse to be honest. So, Disney had better stand by their proper decision to can his ass.

Third, anyone defending Gunn is either doing so out of ignorance or are as much of a low-life as he turned out to be.

Posts like this are filled with such sanctimonious holier than thou... ugh. Especially YJ1 who let his political axe to grind show by saying "political hack." What does Gunn's thoughts on our disgraceful president have to do with why he was fired? Oh wait...

In any event, I would love to see Disney recast the whole Guardians. It would guarantee the movie to flop. But they won't. They'll force the actors via contracts to do a lackluster film that much of nerd media and some fans will pretend was okay until six months after release.

 

[Frodo]

This cast was a strong piece of the one of Disney's highest grossing films they've ever made, and includes one of the biggest stars in Hollywood. I would be incredibly surprised if Disney tries to make an example of them.

Hell, if Pratt, behind the scenes, tells Disney to rehire Gunn or he walks, I would put money on Disney blinking first in that scenario.

I'm not so confident in that , but if several of the cast members threatened to walk I think there's a better chance at Disney blinking.

Then again, Disney knows that if they blink into doing something they aren't inclined to do anyway, that would set a precedence in the future for other big name stars to do the same thing and for them to fold in order to please them.

Disney has always played hardball, and they don't allow themselves to be pushed around , so I think if the actors tried to give ultimatums, Disney would probably just cancel GOTG 3 and send the actors on their way or play hardball with them over their contracts.

 

[Raiden]

Kudos to the cast. They did the right thing. I know Disney won't change their mind, but at least they're reminding us why the Guardians are the best Marvel franchise. They probably also know the next one is almost certain to be blah without Gunn. Still, they came.

I love GOTG as much as the next Marvel fan, but the best Marvel franchise? I think that is stretching it. I will say that even Gunn isn't allowed to finish the trilogy, then the third movie will likely be cancelled or under performed, with a cast that won't feel motivated to participate even if they were forced to due to their contract. It will end badly either way.

 

[DACrowe]

I have a hunch Bautista will go to the mattresses if they try to force him to do it without Gunn. The rest will be there though.

But yes, I standby the Guardians films are among the only Marvel Studios movies with any sense of heart or depth of feeling (the other being Black Panther), and I think they're the most heartfelt and earnest, which is all the more rewarding given their flippant and smug demeanor. Each of them is so deeply hurt and flawed, it makes them feel more real and heroic than the generally pretty perfect Avengers roster (at least post-Phase 1). Another way to put that, they were the only ones I was sad to see die at the end of Infinity War, even though I know they are all coming back.

EDIT: Watch this ending and don't tell me that it is not unique for the MCU... or that it is fitting of what kind of has happened to the franchise in a bittersweetly serendipitous way: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FULRdn9khmM&frags=pl,wn

 

[jmc]

I said this in the Marvel thread but this reads like a very well written warning shot across the bow to Disney from the Guardians. I think it's entirely possible Disney reverse course with this as they've essentially made the matter worse for themselves than it needed to be in the first place. What's going to be interesting to see is what happens next, because this is a situation where a corporation is being asked to admit they made an error in judement. Do the Gaurdians down tools? The fact the entire cast signed on to this letter indicates the prospect of that happening is entirely possible, not to mention it's not going to be easy finding a replacement director. The question is is Disney willing to sacrifice one of its most lucrative and influential franchises for the sake of not looking weak, and that's something I doubt very much. I do agree Bautista is the one most likely to not do it regardless of the contracts, he was immediate in his public disapproval in the decision but can also afford to be that bold given he can always fall back to wrestling if his career was to go sour in film. The other actors don't have the luxury of the fall back career.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Kudos to the cast. They did the right thing. I know Disney won't change their mind, but at least they're reminding us why the Guardians are the best Marvel franchise. They probably also know the next one is almost certain to be blah without Gunn. Still, they came.

No.

 

[Abudefduf]

The GotG cast is CANCELLED.

Posts like this are filled with such sanctimonious holier than thou... ugh.

The only thing my post is filled with is contempt for the people who are saying what I said, but unironically. lol

 

[Zantera]

Firing him in the first place was wrong so they can at least rectify that by bringing him back in.

 

[Spider-Fan]

Black made the best one?

Iron Man was the best one. I enjoy Iron Man 3 more than Iron Man 2, but IM3 is still full of problems. None of which have anything to do with the alterations to the Mandarin, but more stem from unearned changes in character and poorly developed plot points.

 

[elgaz]

GotG can easily survive the replacement of Gunn. For one, the script is already written, so that's set in stone. All they need is a director, and Marvel already has a relationship with a great director who can produce a really great film with a similar tone, Taika Waititi. So the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise will go on just fine, and may even be better. It wouldn't be the first time that film franchises in the MCU changed hands from one director to another and ended up the better for it.

As for Gunn, he made his bed and now he has to lie in it. Let's keep a few things in mind, here:

1) He didn't make one, or two, or three off-color pedophilia and rape jokes. He made a lot! A ridiculous number of those. Those weren't passing spur of the moment thoughts, but things percolating in his head all the time. Nobody talks that much about pedophilia unless they're thinking about it a lot.

2) He didn't just make jokes. Some of his tweets are him outright interacting with pedophiles. He responded positively to some guy who sent him a link to a video about underage girls. A guy later convicted of being in possession of child porn. He retweeted some other guy talking about how much he enjoyed his first NAMBLA meeting. Who does that, particularly the latter, if they're not pedophiles? Have you ever known anyone positively talk about attending NAMBLA meetings? Have you ever known anyone who actually retweeted someone talking about how happy they were attending a NAMBLA meeting? People say they're just jokes, but they're not just jokes. Not all of it. Combine that with the sheer number of tweets he makes, there's a clear fascination with pedophilia on his part.

3) If he's a pedophile, then there's a serious risk that he's acted on those urges. Pedophiles act on their urges. That's what they do. And if he felt so emboldened that he felt he could publicly tweet about pedophilia for years on end, then God only knows how emboldened he felt in real life. This is Hollywood, after all, where people get away with sexual assault for years because the victims are afraid to challenge the celebrity status of their attacker, or sex abusers are outright applauded by the Hollywood elite (Remember when they stood up and cheered convicted pedophile Roman Polanski?). Look how long Bill Cosby, Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey, and Bryan Singer got away with the things they did. They were pretty flagrant about their crimes, but their celebrity protected them, just as it might be protecting Gunn.

The issue isn't just tweets in poor taste, but the very real possibility that Gunn is a predator, and he needs to be investigated ASAP.

I've tweeted words to pretty much the same effect, but it's amazing how many still think Gunn should have his job back.

It wasn't just some unfunny tweets. It was a lot (a huge number) of sick tweets. It was dubious content on his website. It was links to known pedophiles. And more.

Do these people just not care? Do they think references to child abuse should somehow be overlooked because a GOTG film - nothing more than something which entertains us for 90 odd mins every 2-3 years - is somehow more important?

Honestly, I lose faith in this world more and more every day.

 

[skybender]

if you've seen Infinity War you know they don't have to worry about Zoe Saldana


the rest besides Pratt honestly are kind of expendable

Well, given some interviews and interactions between her and Gunn, I think Saldana was coming back for Vol. 3. I guess they could easily write her out so long as she doesn't come back in Avengers 4.

 

[Spider-Fan]

I've tweeted words to pretty much the same effect, but it's amazing how many still think Gunn should have his job back.

It wasn't just some unfunny tweets. It was a lot (a huge number) of sick tweets. It was dubious content on his website. It was links to known pedophiles. And more.

Do these people just not care? Do they think references to child abuse should somehow be overlooked because a GOTG film - nothing more than something which entertains us for 90 odd mins every 2-3 years - is somehow more important?

Honestly, I lose faith in this world more and more every day.

To the best of my knowledge, the only link provided was some type of rick roll type prank. As for your other points, should we hold RDJ accountable for all the stuff he did back in the day? Because he did more than just words. Should we exile him from being Iron Man because of this? Or are you going to argue he changed? I am not saying RDJ should be fired from being Iron Man because I believe people change and we shouldn't make it to where you screw up once and have no future (when it is not something like murder or something). Attitudes like yours make me lose faith in humanity, because by your viewpoint, ex-convicts should basically just give up on life and have no future.

 

[Zarex]

GotG can easily survive the replacement of Gunn. For one, the script is already written, so that's set in stone. All they need is a director, and Marvel already has a relationship with a great director who can produce a really great film with a similar tone, Taika Waititi. So the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise will go on just fine, and may even be better. It wouldn't be the first time that film franchises in the MCU changed hands from one director to another and ended up the better for it.

As for Gunn, he made his bed and now he has to lie in it. Let's keep a few things in mind, here:

1) He didn't make one, or two, or three off-color pedophilia and rape jokes. He made a lot! A ridiculous number of those. Those weren't passing spur of the moment thoughts, but things percolating in his head all the time. Nobody talks that much about pedophilia unless they're thinking about it a lot.

2) He didn't just make jokes. Some of his tweets are him outright interacting with pedophiles. He responded positively to some guy who sent him a link to a video about underage girls. A guy later convicted of being in possession of child porn. He retweeted some other guy talking about how much he enjoyed his first NAMBLA meeting. Who does that, particularly the latter, if they're not pedophiles? Have you ever known anyone positively talk about attending NAMBLA meetings? Have you ever known anyone who actually retweeted someone talking about how happy they were attending a NAMBLA meeting? People say they're just jokes, but they're not just jokes. Not all of it. Combine that with the sheer number of tweets he makes, there's a clear fascination with pedophilia on his part.

3) If he's a pedophile, then there's a serious risk that he's acted on those urges. Pedophiles act on their urges. That's what they do. And if he felt so emboldened that he felt he could publicly tweet about pedophilia for years on end, then God only knows how emboldened he felt in real life. This is Hollywood, after all, where people get away with sexual assault for years because the victims are afraid to challenge the celebrity status of their attacker, or sex abusers are outright applauded by the Hollywood elite (Remember when they stood up and cheered convicted pedophile Roman Polanski?). Look how long Bill Cosby, Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey, and Bryan Singer got away with the things they did. They were pretty flagrant about their crimes, but their celebrity protected them, just as it might be protecting Gunn.

The issue isn't just tweets in poor taste, but the very real possibility that Gunn is a predator, and he needs to be investigated ASAP.

1) It really wasn't that many, and some of the jokes that have been designated as pedophilic in content - equating a weak shower to a toddler's pee stream - were gross but not sexual in nature. The cybernazis and their enables have conflated the number to cloud weak minds.

2) This is an outright lie spread by Mike Cernovich and folks of his ilk. The video was a choir singing a pop song. It was a gag. A gag in poor taste, but a gag none the less.

3) If Gunn showed any evidence of being a pedophile, would folks like Saldana and Pratt be supporting him? They have kids who visit them on set! As do many others in the cast and crew. Would they endanger the safety of their children? If there was any evidence that Gunn was a real life pedophile, don't you think the alt-right, incels and the other garbage humans that have spearheaded this campaign would have uncovered it by now?

It wasn't just some unfunny tweets. It was a lot (a huge number) of sick tweets. It was dubious content on his website. It was links to known pedophiles. And more.

None of this is true!

And now the good news. Disney is considering bringing Gunn back! Per Variety:

Sources say there has been a growing feeling that Gunn could be reinstated, especially because Marvel and Disney have been unusually radio-silent on who could replace him since the firing. Production is slated to start at the top of 2019, and following Gunn’s removal from the film, it was thought that Marvel and Disney would need to move quickly to replace him, since the replacement would likely have to do some work on the script.

https://variety.com/2018/film/news/guardians-of-the-galaxy-cast-james-gunn-support-1202889736/

 

[Spider-Fan]

I hope that is true and they do reinstate him

 

[samsnee]

The cast releasing a statement was just a bad idea. Maybe they're trying to force Disney in a corner, but there's no possible positive outcome for all parties involved.

Scenario 1: Disney does not re-hire Gunn, another director comes on board. The cast stays on based on their contracts, but the enthusiasm among the cast will be noticeably different. When it comes time to promote, questions will all be around working for a new director, etc.

Scenario 2: Disney re-hires Gunn. This now sets a bad precedent for Disney by basically saying if a cast subtly threatens the studio, they have odds of winning. Will make Disney/Marvel re-think their hiring process.

Scenario 3: Disney does not re-hire Gunn. Some or all of the cast are able to get out of the next movie. This is the worst case scenario for everyone, the studio, the cast, the fans.

There were fourteen million six hundred and five scenarios, and they went with the one that didn't result in a win.

 

[elgaz]

To the best of my knowledge, the only link provided was some type of rick roll type prank. As for your other points, should we hold RDJ accountable for all the stuff he did back in the day? Because he did more than just words. Should we exile him from being Iron Man because of this? Or are you going to argue he changed? I am not saying RDJ should be fired from being Iron Man because I believe people change and we shouldn't make it to where you screw up once and have no future (when it is not something like murder or something). Attitudes like yours make me lose faith in humanity, because by your viewpoint, ex-convicts should basically just give up on life and have no future.

There's a vast difference between RDJ's history of addiction issues, and Gunn's predilection for making references to pedophilia. I can't believe I have to even state that.

 

[Spider-Fan]

The cast releasing a statement was just a bad idea. Maybe they're trying to force Disney in a corner, but there's no possible positive outcome for all parties involved.

Scenario 1: Disney does not re-hire Gunn, another director comes on board. The cast stays on based on their contracts, but the enthusiasm among the cast will be noticeably different. When it comes time to promote, questions will all be around working for a new director, etc.

Scenario 2: Disney re-hires Gunn. This now sets a bad precedent for Disney by basically saying if a cast subtly threatens the studio, they have odds of winning. Will make Disney/Marvel re-think their hiring process.

Scenario 3: Disney does not re-hire Gunn. Some or all of the cast are able to get out of the next movie. This is the worst case scenario for everyone, the studio, the cast, the fans.

There were fourteen million six hundred and five scenarios, and they went with the one that didn't result in a win.

I will paraphrase Captain America and say Disney should have thought of this before they fired him. I think the cast absolutely did the right thing, it was Disney that was in the wrong in the first place for firing him.

 

[samsnee]

I will paraphrase Captain America and say Disney should have thought of this before they fired him. I think the cast absolutely did the right thing, it was Disney that was in the wrong in the first place for firing him.

Oh I agree. The proper response would have been to launch an internal investigation but it's clear they thought because they fired Roseanne immediately that they had to do the same with Gunn or risk looking like liberal hypocrites.

 

[Spider-Fan]

There's a vast difference between RDJ's history of addiction issues, and Gunn's predilection for making references to pedophilia. I can't believe I have to even state that.

Yes there is. In one case, Gunn was making jokes and in RDJ's case he actually emotionally abused people, harmed productions he was a part of, etc. He did real, tangible damage. Gunn made some offensive statements. So you're right, there is a world of difference. I'd argue what RDJ did was worse. But we love redemption stories, right? Except apparently when people say things they don't like. Then they deserve no second chances.

 

[Zantera]

I've tweeted words to pretty much the same effect, but it's amazing how many still think Gunn should have his job back.

It wasn't just some unfunny tweets. It was a lot (a huge number) of sick tweets. It was dubious content on his website. It was links to known pedophiles. And more.

Do these people just not care? Do they think references to child abuse should somehow be overlooked because a GOTG film - nothing more than something which entertains us for 90 odd mins every 2-3 years - is somehow more important?

Honestly, I lose faith in this world more and more every day.

Considering it happened a decade ago, was apologized for and was well known before Disney hired him for the first Guardians, it would seem strange to fire him now as nothing new has happened since. By hiring Gunn for the first GotG, Disney basically said "we want this guy". It's like you're dating a girlfriend who has baggage from her past but you decide to propose - basically saying "despite all this, I want you".

By firing Gunn now for something that happened a decade ago - before the original GotG, Disney are basically sending the message that it's okay to steal from the cookie jar until you get caught and then you stop. If they were fine with all of this for 2 movies, only to fire him for the third because some new people discovered a decade old tweets - Disney look like bigger idiots than Gunn because he's done everything he can to change.