MONTHS AFTER BEING fired over old tweets, American director James Gunn has been rehired to direct Marvel’s of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3.

Representatives for the Walt Disney Company and for Gun today  confirmed that he had been reinstated as writer-director of the Marvel franchise he has guided from the start.

Gunn was fired last July over tweets from nearly a decade ago in which he joked about subjects like paedophilia and rape.

The director earlier apologised for the tweets, which he called “unfortunate efforts to be provocative”.

Disney Chairman Alan Horn at the time said Gunn’s words were inconsistent with the studio’s values.

The comments, made from 2008 to 2011, were brought to light by right-wing commentators Mike Cernovich and Jack Posobiec who combed through Gunn’s social media history after his criticism of President Donald Trump.

But Gunn’s dismissal was passionately protested by many.

Fan petitions circulated online.

The Guardians cast, including Chris Pratt, Bradley Cooper, Zoe Saldana, Vin Diesel and other stars, supported Gunn in an open letter.

“Although I don’t support James Gunn’s inappropriate jokes from years ago, he is a good man,” Pratt said.

“I am tremendously grateful to every person out there who has supported me over the last few months,” Gunn said in a statement.

I am always learning and will continue to work at being the best human being I can be.

Gunn added a thank you to Disney and said he was excited to “continue making films that investigate the ties of love that bind us all”.

Gunn has since signed on to write and direct the next installment of Warner Bros Suicide Squad for the Marvel rival DC Comics.

That film is to shoot in the autumn and be released in August 2021.

A Disney spokesman declined to comment on when Guardians 3 might go into production.

The first two films have made more than $1.5 billion (€1.32 billion) in worldwide ticket sales.