To say that Disney’s firing of popular filmmaker and Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn over tweets he made nearly a decade ago was controversial would be an understatement. Gunn’s firing became so heated that several fans launched petitions to convince Disney to bring him back to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. One petition just managed to surpass over 400,000 signatures, and it’s still growing.
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Launched on Change.org in July by user Chandler Edwards, the petition states that, while the jokes Gunn made were in poor taste, they were still jokes and nothing more than a bad attempt at humor. Also, Gunn made those jokes years before he started working for Disney.
The petition also acknowledges that, while the signature-gathering effort may not change anything, it could hopefully make Disney rethink their decision to fire Gunn. The fans signing the petition aren’t alone, either. Guardians star Dave Bautista has consistently voiced his disapproval about the firing. The actor threatened to leave Marvel if they didn’t use Gunn’s script for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
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While this petition may not change the company’s stance on dismissing Gunn, it does show that fans are willing to take action to create change. In an era where social media tools have been levied to inspire far-reaching cultural change (for better and for worse), Marvel fans have shown their online support for Gunn and are doing what they can to bring him back to the MCU fold.