James Gunn rehired for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

James Gunn has been rehired as the director for 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3'

The 52-year-old filmmaker previously helmed the first two instalments of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) series and was on board to direct the third before he was axed by Disney following the emergence of old offensive Twitter posts in which he joked about paedophilia, homophobia and rape.

But after fans and fellow stars rallied in support of Gunn, Deadline has revealed he has now been reinstated as the director for the feature.

And in a Twitter post - which marked the first time he had used the site since apologising for his past actions in tweets posted in July 2018 - confirming the news, Gunn wrote: "I am tremendously grateful to every person out there who has supported me over the past few months.

[embed]https://twitter.com/JamesGunn/status/1106633508657651712[/embed]

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

"I deeply appreciate Disney's decision and I am excited to continue making films that investigate the ties of love that bind us all. I have been, and continue to be incredibly humbled by your love and support.

"From the bottom of my heart, thank you. Love to you all."

The movie was originally due to start filming early this year but had been pushed back following Gunn's exit.

Meanwhile, President of Marvel Studios Kevin Feige recently said that although the studio was "focusing on other projects", he was planning on using Gunn's script for the movie.

He said: "I mean, when it was pushed back, it was pushed back. Meaning the release date, because it's not coming out - although we've never announced a release date actually - but it was gonna happen sooner rather than later, initially of course.

"Outside of knowing that we're gonna use [James Gunn's] draft, [we have] been focusing on other projects."

Although Gunn is now back on board, it's still unknown at the time of writing when shooting will begin on the movie, which stars the likes of Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, and Dave Bautista.