Guardians Of The Galaxy’s Michelle Yeoh Responds To James Gunn Firing

Michelle Yeoh in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
(Image credit: (Marvel Studios))

Since the controversial firing of Guardians of the Galaxy writer and director James Gunn after inappropriate tweets he penned over a decade ago surfaced, much of the cast have shown an outpour of support for Gunn. The director acknowledged his past mistakes and publicly apologized for the rude comments he made over Twitter, but Disney has been firm in their decision to fire him. This has put the fate of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 in question, as it's now indefinitely on hold following the drama. Crazy Rich Asians star Michelle Yeoh, who played Aleta Ogord in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, is the latest star to weigh in on the situation. In her words:

I was shocked, horrified that we can allow something like that to happen. You're talking about things that he said in the archives. If he had said it yesterday, or today, or something like this then you can make a big fuss but why dig up something now? I don't understand at all. It's so unnecessary, what good does it do?

In her comments to Yahoo! Movies UK, Michelle Yeoh echoes similar sentiments expressed by other cast members of the Guardians of the Galaxy movies. Last month, an open letter in support of the director was written and signed by the principal cast of the film, asking that James Gunn be reinstated as director for Vol. 3. However, the letter didn't change the studio's mind, thus continuing a discussion about whether the debacle was worth Disney's verdict to punish Gunn for actions made quite some time ago.

The tweets were reportedly dug up by alt-right commentators who started the online backlash against James Gunn, pleading Disney to fire him from future Guardians endeavors. Michelle Yeoh and the rest of the Guardians of the Galaxy cast seem to believe that the tweets of Gunn's past are uncharacteristic of him today as a person and as a filmmaker who has led them into two successful MCU films.

Before his firing, James Gunn had been working on the script for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. With some rumors reporting that Marvel would be throwing out his script as well, actor Dave Bautista, who plays Drax the Destroyer, has shared uncertainty about whether he would be willing to come back for a sequel or work for Disney again following this controversy. Bautista has been the most vocal in the situation, recently firing back at Disney on Twitter by comparing the studio to the Trump administration. The situation is messy to stay the least, especially as far as future Guardians of the Galaxy films are concerned.

Keep checking back with CinemaBlend for more coverage on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, and don't forget to look through our Marvel movies guide to learn what else the franchise has in development.

Sarah El-Mahmoud
Staff Writer

Sarah El-Mahmoud has been with CinemaBlend since 2018 after graduating from Cal State Fullerton with a degree in Journalism. In college, she was the Managing Editor of the award-winning college paper, The Daily Titan, where she specialized in writing/editing long-form features, profiles and arts & entertainment coverage, including her first run-in with movie reporting, with a phone interview with Guillermo del Toro for Best Picture winner, The Shape of Water. Now she's into covering YA television and movies, and plenty of horror. Word webslinger. All her writing should be read in Sarah Connor’s Terminator 2 voice over.