For James Gunn, there's no return to being a major mainstream filmmaker

James Gunn was always going to be dumped by Disney once his radioactive quotes resurfaced. Photo / AP

As a mainstream director of family entertainment, there's no coming back from this.

James Gunn, the director of the first two films in Disney/Marvel's $1.6 billion Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, was fired last week from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 after what Disney called "indefensible" tweets resurfaced.

Gunn apologised in a series of tweets to his nearly half-million Twitter followers, trying to explain that he attempted such social-media "jokes" back when he viewed himself as "a provocateur" whose humour and horror movies alike were "outrageous and taboo".

Joking in a taboo manner about such subjects as rape and paedophilia didn't hurt Gunn's filmmaking career back when he was a lesser-known indie director releasing low-budget, industry-admired movies such as Slither. But now that he is mainstream, there is no way a major studio creating all-ages entertainment can keep even a beloved franchise director in a leadership role.

Walt Disney chairman Alan Horn said last week: "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."

The irony is that Disney had to know about Gunn's history of offensive online remarks when they hired him for 2014's Guardians of the Galaxy - the first film in a franchise powered largely by Gunn's bent sense of humour and love of classic rock.

Gunn told me last year that part of what he had loved about working for Marvel was the studio's dedication to identifying and hiring filmmakers who had quirky visions and the ability to deliver a blockbuster.

"It's a wonderful talent that they [the executives] have, and I hope that they keep making smart choices," Gunn said, citing the faith of Marvel chief Kevin Feige.

And Disney had rewarded Gunn's ability to deliver popular, profitable superhero movies with a distinctive viewpoint by handing him the second Guardians sequel. Gunn told The Washington Post last year that he looked forward to completing a great trilogy, with Vol. 3 set to be released in 2020, as adapted from comics by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning.

But again, Disney had to know about the risks of handing such huge reins to a director who stirred controversy for his online writing, when the Mary Sue site resurfaced his darker posts, including a 2011 post that included a poll asking readers which superheroes they most wanted to have sex with. Even Gunn's defenders then called his words "misogynistic and homophobic".

In his 2011 blog post, Gunn wrote of gay and lesbian sex, underage sex and other acts that offended many.

Some commenters called Gunn "creepy" and "sickening" at the time.

Disney has endured some of its directors and writers, including creatives with Star Wars, being overtly political online - as Gunn has been, as well. But in an age when nothing on social media seems to disappear forever, Disney had to be concerned that some of Gunn's past "jokes" would resurface and be radioactive.

Gunn said last week about his resurfaced tweets: "I have regretted them ... 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."

That said, Gunn probably has a creative future if he wants to return to indie filmmaking.

But Gunn, like Disney, had to know the deal if this day ever came.