This situation is very complicated. I do believe that Gunn was making jokes, the kind meant to provoke outrage, especially considering that that the time he was directing pretty tacky movies for Troma (which is what they're known for). Now, those kind of movies are not my cup of tea, and I read some of the tweets and they were not really what I think is funny. However, I don't necessarily mind that kind of dark humor in the vein of something like Family Guy, which makes jokes about those same questionable topics all the time, just in a more farcical way. I agree that Disney was not in a winning situation, and while the motives behind all of this are certainly debatable, I can't really fault Disney for wanting to jump as far away as they could as fast as they could. The fact is that it doesn't matter if the tweets were meant as jokes or not, they are what they are, and they're out there, and they're very visible now. So, there it is.
Now, that leads to an interesting situation regarding Family Guy and other series prodiced by Fox, which Disney is soon to own. How does that work with Disney's image? Again, I don't mind Family Guy (in fact I rather enjoy it), but when there is outcry of "You should never make jokes about 'X'," then when does public opinion turn against that, and any number of things after that? I'm really not sure where it goes, but it feels fraught with problems. It's tough to be a company like Disney who wants to be all things to all people. They are perhaps the most image-concious brand on the planet. When a polarizing issue like this comes along (and there is a lot of support that goes along with that outrage), they are really in a no-win predicament.
I do not think it will really effect the franchise all that much. Marvel is bigger than any one person at this point, and they have a house style that will continue with or without a specific director. I guess we'll see.
