James Gunn has had a hell of a year. After riding high as one of the foremost directors in the superhero genre, thanks to his ‘Guardians’ films, Gunn came under fire in 2018 after old, offensive tweets resurfaced. He was swiftly fired by Disney from “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” and seemingly sent to director’s jail. Then it was announced that the filmmaker was making a comeback with WB’s “The Suicide Squad,” which was then followed by the announcement that Disney re-hired Gunn for his third ‘Guardians’ film.
Now, almost a year after the roller coaster journey began, Gunn is able to open up about his experiences and his thoughts regarding the whole situation in a candid new interview with Deadline.
READ MORE: James Gunn Reinstated As The Director Of Marvel Studios’ ‘Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3’
Many people would feel a bit hurt by the quick firing and then sudden re-hiring by Disney. Many people would likely want to make a stand and tell an executive like Alan Horn to go eff himself. But Gunn said that he still respects and admires Horn, despite the embarrassing incident.
“I really believe he is a good man and I think he hired me back because he thought that was the right thing to do,” said Gunn. “I’ve known him a little, going back to the ‘Scooby-Doo’ movies. I’ve always liked and admired him. I was touched by his compassion.”
Even though he’s been brought back into the Disney/Marvel Studios fold, Gunn’s thoughts on the whole dismissal over decade-old, offensive tweets have not changed. He’s still sorry and takes full responsibility.
“I don’t blame anyone,” he said. “I feel and have felt bad for a while about some of the ways I spoke publicly; some of the jokes I made, some of the targets of my humor, just the unintentional consequences of not being more compassionate in what I’m putting out there.”
He continued, “I know that people have been hurt by things that I’ve said, and that’s still my responsibility, that I wasn’t as compassionate as I should be in what I say. I feel bad for that and take full responsibility. Disney totally had the right to fire me. This wasn’t a free speech issue. I said something they didn’t like and they completely had the right to fire me. There was never any argument of that.”
However, as much of a hot-button issue his tweets, and subsequent firing, had become, James Gunn was not blacklisted like some of the other controversial figures of the last couple of years. In fact, the director says that once he was gone from Disney, his phone started ringing.
Gunn said, “The studios, for the most part, said, ‘We’d love to have you.’ They called within the first two days. But I didn’t believe it.”
Of course, as we know now, the filmmaker landed on his feet with Warner Bros. and the upcoming film “The Suicide Squad,” which is a continuation of the series (don’t you dare call it a sequel!) started by David Ayer in 2016.
“The ‘Suicide Squad’ sequel, it just instantly started flowing,” said Gunn. “I don’t think I’ve had as much fun writing a script since maybe ‘Dawn of the Dead.’ That’s what this whole movie has been like.”
Oddly enough, when asked what the most heartbreaking thing about potentially not being able to finish his ‘Guardians’ trilogy was, Gunn talked about one character in particular.
READ MORE: ‘Brightburn’: James Gunn Says He Wanted To Create A “Truly Iconic Horror Movie Character”
“Rocket is me, he really is, even if that sounds narcissistic,” admitted the filmmaker. “Groot is like my dog. I love Groot in a completely different way. I relate to Rocket and I feel compassion for Rocket, but I also feel like his story has not been completed.”
He added, “That was a big loss to me—not being able to finish that story—though I was comforted by the fact that they were still planning to use my script.”
Gunn’s next two films are still a ways off, with “The Suicide Squad” scheduled for August 2021 and “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” sometime in 2022, at the earliest.
