Calls For Taika Waititi To Helm 'Guardians Of The Galaxy 3' After Its Director Got Fired For Gross Tweets

The next installment of the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise may look and sound a little different. Director and writer James Gunn has been fired after a series of problematic tweets were unearthed from the depths of his feed.

The shocking tweets have since been deleted, but users posted screenshots that reportedly showed the director making jokes about rape and other offensive topics. 

According to ET, one of them read: “Laughter is the best medicine. That’s why I laugh at people with AIDS.”

Yuck.

The first two Guardians films were released to massive success, with the sequel's $863 million worldwide box office haul out-grossing the first movie by $90 million — and the third Chris Pratt-starrer was likely to be even bigger.

Nonetheless, the decision to remove Gunn from all future projects came quickly after his Twitter excavation. Walt Disney Studios chairman Alan Horn promptly told outlets, "The offensive attitudes and statements discovered on James’ Twitter feed are indefensible and inconsistent with our studio’s values, and we have severed our business relationship with him."

For his part, Gunn took to the social media outlet in question to issue an apology, insisting he is "very, very different" now than he was when he wrote the insensitive sentiments. Read his five-part Twitter thread in full:

Many people who have followed my career know when I started, I viewed myself as a provocateur, making movies and telling jokes that were outrageous and taboo. As I have discussed publicly many times, as I’ve developed as a person, so has my work and my humor. 

It’s not to say I’m better, but I am very, very different than I was a few years ago; today I try to root my work in love and connection and less in anger. My days saying something just because it’s shocking and trying to get a reaction are over. 

In the past, I have apologized for humor of mine that hurt people. I truly felt sorry and meant every word of my apologies. 

For the record, when I made these shocking jokes, I wasn’t living them out. I know this is a weird statement to make, and seems obvious, but, still, here I am, saying it. 

Anyway, that’s the completely honest truth: I used to make a lot of offensive jokes. I don’t anymore. I don’t blame my past self for this, but I like myself more and feel like a more full human being and creator today. Love you to you all.

Gunn previously announced that he had submitted a first draft of the third film’s script, with production set to begin after the release of Avengers 4 in 2019.

There have been no announcements regarding the fate of the third film since Gunn’s removal, but there's already a push to get NZ's own Taika Waititi into the job!

Fans on Twitter really want the Thor: Ragnarok director to take the reigns, and bring his trademark kiwi humour to the GOTG franchise:

With James Gunn sadly no longer directing Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 @TaikaWaititi is the only logical option to replace him. Don't screw this up Disney !

— Ashley Smith (@gbash712) July 21, 2018

Give the people what they want and let @TaikaWaititi direct Guardians of the Galaxy volume 3

— Remy Carreiro (@Remy_Anne) July 21, 2018

disney fired james gunn now its time for taika waititi to do guardians of the galaxy vol. 3 and make it the best one just like he did with thor

— mark (@poorbeebo) July 21, 2018

@MarvelStudios you better hire Taika Waititi to direct the gotg 3 or I will sue #TaikaForGOTG3 #TaikaandRyansavingtheGalaxy #GOTG3 #marvel @TaikaWaititi

— cara 🥀🎶🌻 (@moonlitviolett) July 21, 2018

Give Guardians of the Galaxy to Taika Waititi so I can get the Korg & Groot team up that I didn't know I wanted until just now.

— John Owning (@JohnOwning) July 21, 2018

|￣￣￣￣￣￣ |
| TAIKA |
| WAITITI |
| WILL |
| DIRECT |
| GOTG VOL3 |
| ＿＿＿＿＿__|
(\__/) ||
(•ㅅ•) ||
/ 　 づ

— 𝒥𝑜𝑒 (@winteragnarok) July 20, 2018

Your move, Disney.

- Alissa Schulman / Emmy Mack

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