Marvel fans have launched numerous petitions to reinstate James Gunn as director on Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3. The 51-year-old director was fired from the Guardians Of The Galaxy sequel after numerous social media posts were unearthed making light of subjects like paedophilia and rape. His firing has caused controversy considering the tweets were written before Gunn was hired by Disney to film the first Guardians Of The Galaxy flick, prompting fans to start petitions to have the decision reversed. One petition on Change.org with nearly 2,000 signatures at time of writing, states: ‘James Gunn was fired from Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 3 due to tweets that he made back in 2009 that he apologised for. ‘I believe in second chances, and think that Gunn deserves one, since he created two masterpieces in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.’ Another petition with 1,300 signatures at time of writing, states: ‘If you do this to Gunn you have to do it for all the other directors who have said some crappy joke sometime in their life, which is all of them, cause I doubt there’s one human on this planet who hasn’t made a shitty joke once or twice in their life.’ Disney released a statement on Friday confirming they had severed ties with Gunn, which read: ‘The offensive attitudes and statements discovered on James’ Twitter feed are indefensible and inconsistent with our studio’s values and we have severed our business relationship with him.’ Gunn released a statement following the news, saying: ‘My words of nearly a decade ago were, at the time, totally failed and unfortunate efforts to be provocative. ‘I have regretted them for many years since – not just because they were stupid, not at all funny, wildly insensitive, and certainly not provocative like I had hoped, but also because they don’t reflect the person I am today or have been for some time. Published in Daily Times, July 23rd 2018.