If you don’t know anything about James Gunn, let me give you a little recap. He is the writer and director of both Guardians of the Galaxy movies. They were both very successful and I liked them a lot because they feel a lot more original than your average Marvel movie. Then in 2018, after already writing a script for the third Guardians movie, some people on Twitter started sharing tweets that Gunn had made in 2008 and 2012. I’ve read the tweets, you can look them up if you want. He made some bad jokes about rape and pedophiles that definitely don’t look good when you read them today. Disney fired him right away.

Gunn issued an apology back in 2012 for those bad tweets:

“A couple of years ago I wrote a blog that was meant to be satirical and funny. In rereading it over the past day I don’t think it’s funny. The attempted humor in the blog does not represent my actual feelings. However, I can see where statements were poorly worded and offensive to many. I’m sorry and regret making them at all. People who are familiar with me as evidenced by my Facebook page and other mediums know that I’m an outspoken proponent for the rights of the gay and lesbian community, women and anyone who feels disenfranchised, and it kills me that some other outsider like myself, despite his or her gender or sexuality, might feel hurt or attacked by something I said. We’re all in the same camp, and I want to do my best to make this world a better place for all of us. I’m learning all the time. I promise to be more careful with my words in the future. And I will do my best to be funnier as well. Much love to all.”

After getting fired by Disney in 2018 he apologized again:

“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.”

Many of the actors Gunn worked with on the Guardians of the Galaxy movies publically supported him. Dave Bautista who plays Drax in the movies even came out and said that he would not return for Guardians 3 if Gunn wasn’t allowed to be a part of it.

A petition circulated on the internet in support of rehiring Gunn and it gained over 400,000 signatures. At the same time, a billboard went up in LA that advocated the same thing.

And now? In March 2019, after several meetings with Disney chairman Alan Horn, it was announced that the decision was reversed and James Gunn would come back to direct Guardians of the Galaxy 3 with the original script that he wrote before he was fired.

There aren’t a lot of details out about why Disney decided to reverse their decision, but I’m really glad that they did. We’re in this age where it seems like you can’t be forgiven for bad decisions that you made in the past, but this reversal has given me hope that we can do this the right way. If we found out that Gunn was actually raping or murdering people, then I would be first to say that he should be kicked out of Hollywood and his position of power, but sometimes jokes are just jokes. He is clearly very sorry that he made them and there should be a path to redemption for him and people like him.