Last July movie fans were shaken to their cores by the news that hotshot director James Gunn had been fired from Guardians of the Galaxy 3 by Disney because of past jokes he'd made on social media. Now he's given his first proper interview about the situation to Deadline, stating "Disney totally had the right to fire me" and revealing that he's not bitter about the decision.
"I don’t blame anyone. 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 said.
"There’s a lot of really positive stuff that’s coming out of all of this, and one of those positives is I was able to learn. People have to be able to learn from mistakes. If we take away the possibility for someone to learn and become a better person, I’m not sure what we are left with."
Of course, since then Gunn has started work on a Suicide Squad sequel for DC and been reinstated on Guardians of the Galaxy 3. One of the things that struck him during the darker times though, was the very public outpouring of support from his Guardians of the Galaxy cast.
"Chris Pratt calling me and freaking out; Zoe Saldana and Karen Gillan, all calling and crying. Sylvester Stallone FaceTime-ing me. And, of course, Dave Bautista, who came out so strong. That amount of love that I felt from my friends, my family, and the people in the community was absolutely overwhelming."
Gunn is currently busy with Suicide Squad, and will return to Guardians of the Galaxy 3 once that wraps. In the meantime, the dark superhero story he produced, Brightburn, arrives in movie theaters on May 24.
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