James Gunn has responded after Deadline broke the news today that Disney has reinstated him as writer-director of Guardians of the Galaxy 3, after the studio fired him off the threequel last July when old tweets surfaced that made light of pedophilia and rape.

The move Friday returns him to the Marvel franchise he has piloted since its launch, with the sequel outgrossing the first picture and together amassing $1.6 billion in global box office.

After the firing, Walt Disney Studios chairman Alan Horn met with Gunn on multiple occasions to discuss the situation. Persuaded by Gunn’s public apology and his handling of the situation after, and the rallying-around exhibited by the likes of stars Dave Bautista, Chris Pratt and Zoe Saldana, Horn decided to reverse course and reinstate Gunn.

As Deadline reported, Disney had not attached anyone else to Guardians 3 through the entire affair.

“I am tremendously grateful to every person out there who has supported me over the past few months,” Gunn said Friday in Twitter after the news broke, in his first activity on the account since apologizing back in July. “I am always learning and will continue to work at being the best human being I can be.” (Read the full statement below.)

In the aftermath, he got the gig to write and direct Warner Bros’ Suicide Squad 2. Now he will finish that pic before turning to Guardians 3. Prior to his dismissal, Gunn had written a script that Marvel confirmed would be used for the third installment.

Here’s Gunn’s tweet today: