Guardians Of The Galaxy Director Weighs In On Captain America Twist

Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn is the latest comics-related celebrity to chime in on Marvel's decision to reveal Steve Rogers as an apparent Hydra sleeper agent in Steve Rogers: Captain America #1 earlier this week.

Without specifically addressing the plot point itself -- a comic he likely hasn't read since he's currently directing a $200 million movie -- Gunn posted to Facebook, "If you're a forty-year-old dude claiming a comics company ruined your childhood because of a plot twist, you might consider that your childhood really wasn't that great to begin with."

In the comments threads below, he acknowledged that he was of course talking about Captain America, and went back and forth with a number of fans on the issues raised by the issue.

Of particular note was Gunn's response to a common complaint: that making Captain America a member of a group with ties to the Nazis was "a slap in the face" to the two Jewish men who co-created the character.

"I think saying something so trite is a slap in the face to the creators is a slap in the face to the creators," Gunn responded. "Simon and Kirby's lives and works are a lot bigger than this one issue of a comic book. This argument seems like it's reaching for a reason to be outraged as well as being a rather offensive exploitation of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby's very real struggles."

As tends to happen when these kinds of controversies pop up, the filmmaker addressed it, responded to a handful of fans, but didn't get too sucked into the nuts and bolts of most arguments.

For his part, Steve Rogers: Captain America writer Nick Spencer has said that the plot point will not be resolved quickly and that the journey to bringing Captain America -- as a character and a symbol -- stronger on the other side will take time and involve characters from all around the Marvel Universe.