Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 (2017)

[Catwoman]

Well this is disappointing and disgusting. I adored those movies, had never heard of the guy before seeing the first one so I wasn't aware of who he was back when, but that is pretty terrible. I get that people can change and I hope he's sincere that he's left that behind, but I'm not going to worry much over him being fired.

Only one of those is all that sketchy (eg, the one about the "silly place")... and even that one could have a harmless, though bawdy, intent to it.

When people gripe about PC culture gone amok, this is what they mean.

Are you f***ing sh*tting me?

[thecolorsblend]

Well this is disappointing and disgusting. I adored those movies, had never heard of the guy before seeing the first one so I wasn't aware of who he was back when, but that is pretty terrible. I get that people can change and I hope he's sincere that he's left that behind, but I'm not going to worry much over him being fired.

Only one of those is all that sketchy (eg, the one about the "silly place")... and even that one could have a harmless, though bawdy, intent to it.

When people gripe about PC culture gone amok, this is what they mean.

Are you f***ing sh*tting me?

No. For all I know, he was trading tweets with somebody and they were getting pretty R-rated. Or it's possible that it's exactly what you think it is. If laws were broken (or are being broken), the authorities can handle it. But I don't see what's gained in having little emotional spasms online about tweets which may very well be far divorced from context.

Full disclosure- I don't have a horse in this race. I think the GOTG movies are overrated assembly line pap and Gunn up to this point has basically been a very lucky TV-tier director. IOW, I have no loyalty to him or this franchise. I just think waiting for all the facts is generally preferable to losing my mind over something which may have an innocent explanation.

[The Dark Knight]

I don't have a horse in this race either, but Gunn's volume of tweets around this topic do show a trend. In any case, the guy has been sacked and his reputation is now mud. I don't have any sympathy.

[The Laughing Fish]

I just think waiting for all the facts is generally preferable to losing my mind over something which may have an innocent explanation.

The man had apparently tried to delete over TEN THOUSAND tweets of vile comments over the years in light of this backlash. He might not have physically harmed anybody (at least we aren't aware of), but it makes me wonder how depraved he is if this is his sense of "humour". Even if he was trying to provoke people.

[johnnygobbs]

Gunn apologised for his Tweets years ago.  He realised they were a mistake.

Also, one of the people who unearthed the Tweets and has been calling on Gunn to be fired as 'revenge' for Roseanne Barr (as if her crappy sitcom is a tenth as brilliant and vital to our culture as the wonderful Guardian of the Galaxy films) is Mike Cernovich, a man who has been charged with rape, ultimately served a sentence for misdemeanour battery, and who has denied the existence of date rape.  He also has a history of attacking his enemies as 'paedophiles' without any evidence to support his position.

The guy is slime, and Disney acted like idiots in allowing itself to be guided by such a person.

Sadly, Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3, if it is still made, will be severely compromised by its loss of the filmmaker who made the first two films such distinctive hits, thanks in part to its very unique sense of humour and soundtracks.  Bear in mind that when the MCU released the first Guardians of the Galaxy, no-one expected it to be a mega-hit.  It was expected to fall under the radar since hardly anyone, even some of the most ardent Marvel fans, knew who these characters were.

Good work Disney in killing the Golden Goose...

[Paul (ral)]

I've no doubt his old tweets were intended to provoke and were ill-thought out attempts at dark, gross-out humour. I don't believe for a second he was emoting some dark fantasy he has or intended to make light of child sexual abuse.

However it came across in his tweets the fact is if you work for Disney and sh*t like that comes out, then you're gone. That's their policy. Gunn says he understands that so fair enough.

As for him making posts to "provoke"? The guy was in his 40s when he make the tweets...and he stands today blasting "fanboys" who provoke on social media?? Seriously?

Personally I found GotG2 to be a let down. Maybe some fresh blood will help the series.

[johnnygobbs]

Personally I found GotG2 to be a let down. Maybe some fresh blood will help the series.

A 'let down'?

I have spoken to many people, particularly individuals who had a stronger bond with their step-parents to their biological dads or moms, who found GOTG2's focus on Peter's father-son relationship with Yondu, following his discovery regarding his birth father, to be extremely touching and powerful, and Ego turned out to be one of the most complex and interesting villains in the MCU franchise.

Also, the first two GOTG films have such a distinctive style, unlike the first Thor film or the first Captain America film, both of which were pretty generic and could have been directed by pretty much anyone, with their blend of comedy and emotion, the team dynamic, the bright colour scheme, and especially the soundtrack, which is a very important and vital element and depends very heavily on Gunn's particular music tastes, that I can't imagine for a single moment any filmmaker who could, or would even want to, replicate them and make Volume 3 seem like a consistent part of the trilogy.

To be honest, Disney would be far better advised to simply drop a third GOTG film rather than risk ending up with a subpar effort that tries, and fails, to replicate the previous two films under a new director.  Unfortunately, that does mean that we won't get a payoff to the Adam Warlock storyline set-up during the mid-credits sequence for GOTG2, but we can blame petty, Roseanne Barr-loving alt-right rapist scumbags like Mike Cernovich for that.

It's because of people like him and his ilk that the rest of us can't have nice things.

[Paul (ral)]

The themes explored were interesting yes, but from a film making POV I found the overall script and humour a let down. What can I say.? 

[johnnygobbs]

The themes explored were interesting yes, but from a film making POV I found the overall script and humour a let down. What can I say.?

I felt the exact same way about the absurdly overpraised Thor: Ragnarok.

I've also read people suggest that Ragnarok's director Taika Waititi should replace James Gunn for GOTG3.  Just a heads up for all of you deeply offended by Gunn's Twitter account, Waitit's next film is a comedy about a boy during WWII Germany who makes friends with an imaginary Hitler...

[johnnygobbs]

Disney really is controlled by a bunch of sanctimonious and clueless goody-goodies.

I know it tends to keep falling on its feet, but eventually the company is going to discover that if it wants to keep expanding it will, eventually, have to hire people with less than savoury histories (it already employs Johnny Depp and Josh Brolin, both of whom have been accused of DV, which I'd argue is much more serious than a bunch of, admittedly ugly, Tweets).

The way the company keeps burning bridges with filmmakers like Edgar Wright, Patty Jenkins, Joss Whedon, Christopher Miller and Phil Lord, and now James Gunn, how do they expect to keep finding great talent to work with?