Disney REHIRE James Gunn For Guardians Of The Galaxy 3

Deadline are reporting that James Gunn, writer and director for both Guardians of the Galaxy films, has been rehired by Disney to complete work on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Gunn had originally been dismissed from the project last summer due to the reemergence of controversial Tweets posted almost ten years ago, which then sparked a smear campaign from various alt-right figures and eventually resulted in him being fired.

News of Gunn's rehiring is sure to come as a surprise to many, not least because it was announced a few months ago that he'd be working on a brand new version of the Suicide Squad for Warner Bros. Deadline's report mentions that Gunn will continue work on The Suicide Squad, and will only commence work on Guardians 3 once production has wrapped on the former project.

Prior to this report, it had been confirmed by Gunn's brother, Sean Gunn, that Disney would still be using the writer/director's script for the third film. News of his reinstatement, however, is significant, as Marvel now have to effectively wait for Gunn to finish his production for a rival company until they are able to press ahead with one of their most successful franchises.

In their story, Deadline also mention that the decision to bring Gunn back had been made "months ago" by Walt Disney Studios President Alan Horn, following conversations with Marvel Studios. Given how the Guardians cast rallied behind Gunn in the wake of his dismissal, along with the fact directors like Taika Waititi and Edgar Wright - both rumoured to have been potential replacements at one point or another - ruled themselves out, it's likely Marvel were left with no other option but to bring Gunn back.

Given the unanimous success of both Guardians films however, it's likely a decision they wouldn't have agonised over for too long.