Remember when Disney fired Guardians of the Galaxy auteur James Gunn because of a couple handfuls of old tweets bearing gross jokes? It was a decision the corporate behemoth suddenly reversed last month, when they rehired the writer-director for the MCU wing he made his own. Fans rejoiced; after all, the Guardians films are arguably the most distinctive and eccentric part of the super-franchise, mostly thanks to Gunn.
Also stoked: Zoe Saldana. The sometime Gamora — who presumably won’t be returning after the events of Avengers: Infinity War, but who knows? — was doing the rounds for the forthcoming animated film Missing Link when she was inevitably asked about one of the two franchises in which she plays characters with skin made of primary colors. (Remember: She’ll soon have to do press for the Avatar sequels.)
“I was very proud of Disney and all of the executives there,” Saldana told the New York Daily News, in an exchange caught by Deadline. “They’re sending a very strong message that, yes, accountability is important. It is a must. We’re not going to surrender that moving forward. But when the opportunity presents itself where it’s just the first step, redemption must be the second step.”
In other words, Saldana is praising Gunn for admitting his past mistakes and Disney for accepting his apology and moving on. Of course, in the interim when he assumed Guardians would be handed off to someone else, Gunn went and accepted a job retooling the second Suicide Squad, which will lose some cast members, like Will Smith, while keeping others.
That film is due on August 6, 2021, meaning Guardians will almost certainly not be making its once-planned May 1, 2020 release date. So who knows when we’ll be getting Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, all thanks to some dumb, old jokes and the people who unearthed them.
(Via New York Daily News and Deadline)