The Marvel Cinematic Universe has become a well oiled machine over the past decade of filmmaking, but there is a new drama that is currently rocking the behemoth franchise. After offensive tweets from a decade ago resurfaced, Guardians of the Galaxy director was fired by Disney, leaving the fan favorite franchise is jeopardy. This decision has inspired countless conversations about the power of words, social media, and public outrage. Actress Glenn Close starred as Nova Prime in the first Guardians movie, and has contributed to the dialogue surrounding Gunn's depature. Close recently spoken out again, and how complicated the entire situation is.
It's hard to think of it without him. It's sad. And it brings up, I think, some very tricky issues around this movement. I bring it up with every woman I talk to because I want to know what people feel, you know? Is that truly what we should be doing? Especially in this case, somebody who's known to ruin people for something that they wrote in a totally different context, what, ten, 12 years ago? What are we going to do, go back to our pasts and make sure that everything we said was politically correct? Who can live like that? I just feel that there's something wrong about that.
Glenn Close, like many Marvel fans, can't see a Guardians of the Galaxy movie without James Gunn's vision and perspective. Furthermore, the acclaimed actress seems concerned about the precedent set by firing Gunn based on tweets from so many years ago. There's a lot to unpack with this conversation, and Close seems to be looking inward as well.
Glenn Close's comments to Empire Magazine (via CBM), makes a fair point regarding the imperfect nature of people. James Gunn's comments caused his firing because they were in the vaults of Twitter, while plenty of celebs have no doubt said offensive things IRL. Close doesn't claim her past was perfectly PC, as she went on to say in the same interview.
We are very flawed creatures. Look at what we're doing to our fucking world. It was a question I was talking about to somebody last night - you have somebody that actually has the creative energy to create something like Guardians of the Galaxy. He's a flawed human being. He was a, you know, cocky asshole back then, and was saying things to provoke people. Does that negate him as an artist? I don't think so. I personally do not think so. Or else we're taking down buildings and paintings - you know, take down all the Picassos, he treated women terribly. If it's going to be a lasting cultural revolution, which is a big change, if... We've got to take into consideration human nature.
While Glenn Close doesn't seem to be excusing James Gunn's offensive jokes, she seems to ultimately feel conflicted about his Guardians of the Galaxy departure. Aside from the moral issue, the franchise is perhaps Marvel's most director-driven property, and it's unclear if the trilogy will ever be completed.
The Guardians of the Galaxy will return to the MCU in Avengers 4 in May 3rd, 2018-- although it's unclear how their story will wrap up-- given that Guardians 3 is currently on hold. In the meantime, check out our 2018 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.
