Kevin Feige has revealed that Marvel bosses regretted the sacking of Guardians Of The Galaxy director James Gunn.

Gunn was dropped by Disney after the first two Guardians films in 2018 when a series of controversial tweets allegedly written in the past by him, surfaced online.

Cast members of the franchise rallied behind Gunn and he was eventually rehired in March 2019 to direct the the third film.

Now Feige has said that Marvel bosses never interviewed anyone to replace Gunn during his absence.

“We didn’t even put a preliminary list together just because we couldn’t do it,” he told The Hollywood Reporter. “We couldn’t stomach it.”

Gunn also said Disney film chairman Alan Horn regretted the decision to sack him and he was having trouble sleeping over it.

“It’s a 100 percent because Alan Horn felt sick. He did it because he thought it was the right thing to do,” Gunn added.

At the time Horn met with Gunn several times and was persuaded, by the director’s public apology and handling of the aftermath, to rehire him.

Meanwhile, Gunn also recently said the third movie in the series, which is released this Wednesday (May 3), is “about the Guardians saving themselves”.

The film earned three stars from NME and was described as “an oddly dark goodbye for Marvel’s funniest gang”.

It added: “This is definitely one film made for the fans. If you’ve been paying close enough attention to clearly remember Peter’s last minutes on Earth, why Gamora is here despite dying in Avengers: Endgame, and when a talking dog joined the group, you will probably get more from this than the casual fan. The less dedicated viewer should be reasonably entertained, although maybe wish for the days when the laughs outnumbered the tears.”