“Guardians of the Galaxy” Actors Respond to Gunn’s Removal

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After the surprising announcement that Disney was severing ties with director James Gunn over old insensitive Tweets, several Guardians of the Galaxy cast members responded on various social media platforms.

UPDATE (7/30/18): The cast of Guardians of the Galaxy have penned an open letter voicing their support for Gunn, sharing their thoughts on the events that saw his removal, and calling for his reinstatement as director of Vol. 3:

Previously:

Disney News July 22-28

  • The cast of Guardians of the Galaxy and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2  have expressed their feelings regarding the news that director James Gunn has been fired.
  • Some messages have been quite vocal, others a little more cryptic.

Dave Bautista was the first to respond with frustration:

James’s brother Sean commented on his brother’s personality, his attempts at humor, and more:

It goes without saying that I love and support my brother James and I’m quite proud of how kind, generous, and compassionate he is with all the people in his life. Since he was a kid, it was clear he had a desire (maybe destiny) to be an artist, tell stories, find his voice through comics, films, his band. The struggle to find that voice was sometimes clunky, misguided, or downright stupid, and sometimes wonderful, moving, and hilarious. Since devoting his entire life to the Guardians movies and MCU six years ago, I’ve seen him channel that voice into his work and seen him transform from the guy who made up things to shock people. I saw firsthand as he went from worrying about “softening his edge” for a larger audience to realizing that this “edge” wasn’t as useful of a tool as he thought it was. That his gift for storytelling was something better. I saw that he was more open-hearted than the guy who thought he needed to get a rise out of people by making nasty or offensive jokes (or whatever you choose to call them—I don’t think his bluer material was ever his funniest and neither does Mom). And the best part is, this change in my brother was reflected in the change that the Guardians go through. I’ve heard my brother say many times that when Quill rallies the team with “this is our chance to give a shit”—to care—that it’s the pep talk he himself needed to hear. It’s part of what made working on the Guardians movies such a rewarding experience for the cast. We managed to find ourselves involved in a big-budget superhero movie that was, at its core, deeply personal. That’s a gift. And that’s why it’s good. This isn’t new information, by the way. It’s all stuff that James has explained many times in interviews, in more detail and more eloquently. It’s not some new spin. It’s always been part of this story. So I guess my hope is that fans continue to watch and appreciate the Guardians movies, not despite the fact that the filmmaker used to be kind of a jackass, but because of it. They are, after all, movies about discovering your best self. Working on those movies made my brother a better person, and they made me one too. I’ll always be proud of that. Peace.

A post shared by Sean Gunn (@thejudgegunn) on

Chris Pratt Tweeted a cryptic message that fans believe is in response to Disney/Gunn:


Zoe Saldana is currently searching for the right words. Costar, Bautista understands

Meanwhile, Michael Rooker — who played Yondu in the franchise — has reportedly deleted his Twitter account, leading many to believe the timing is related to Gunn’s firing.

Outside of the GotG universe, comedian Bobcat Goldthwait had this to say.

I love @jamesgunn. He’s a loyal friend, super talented, passionate and kind. I wanted to say something, here it is: Dear @disney, I would hate for you to come off as hypocritical so I’m suggesting that you remove my voice from an attraction that’s coming to your park. It’s called WORLD OF COLOR – VILLAINOUS, and I reprise the role of Pain, a role I played in HERCULES. You see here’s the deal, years ago I made a lot of sarcastically shocking and offensive jokes. Many that I’m embarrassed about now, and I’d hate to make you guys look bad seeing that I’m openly critical of the president and his administration, and you seem to be taking your lead from some of his radical fringe supporters. I think James Woods may have recorded a voice for this new attraction, too. Why not check out some of his whacky past tweets?! They’re a hoot! For the record I do stand with survivors of sexual abuse and I was wondering if you guys are still making money off of your movie POWDER? Asking for a friend. Thanks, Bobcat

A post shared by Bobcat Goldthwait (@bobcatgoldthwait) on

What’s interesting abou Goldthwait’s comment is the reference to the World of Color show, which Disney has not yet announced (Thank you to Evan Kascak for the tip about Goldthwait).

With James Gunn’s firing still causing shockwaves throughout the company and beyond, we expect be this won’t the last we hear about this difficult situation.