Disney CEO on how involved he was in decision to fire ‘Guardians’ director James Gunn

“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2”
Marvel Studios

• 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 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.