James Gunn reinstated as Guardians of the Galaxy director - report

Filmmaker James Gunn has been reinstated as the director for Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 eight months after Disney bosses fired him.

The director, who steered the first two Marvel movies, was let go last summer (Jul18) after a series of ill-advised tweets Gunn wrote a decade ago, poking fun at rape and paedophilia, were unearthed.

His cast and fans called for his immediate reinstatement, suggesting film studio bosses had overreacted, and now it seems they agree.

According to Deadline sources, the decision to rehire Gunn was made months ago after Walt Disney Studios president Alan Horn met with the filmmaker to discuss the situation.

Gunn publicly apologised for his offensive social media posts, calling his attempts to be a provocateur foolish.

News of his reinstatement comes weeks after Marvel boss Kevin Feige confirmed Gunn's script for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 would be used for the film.

The third instalment of the Guardians franchise was slated to start production in early 2019, but Feige reveals filming has stalled because he and his Marvel partners have been focusing on other projects.

In an interview with Collider last month (Feb19), Feige said, "When it was pushed back, it was pushed back. Meaning the release date. Because it's not coming out... although we've never announced a release date actually. But it was gonna happen sooner rather than later, initially of course. Outside of knowing that we're gonna use his (Gunn's) draft, (we have) been focusing on other projects."

Adam McKay confirmed reports suggesting he was once in the running for the directing job, stating, "We've talked a little bit. We're always kind of talking."