Fans of the Marvel Universe will have heard the news that Walt Disney has severed ties with James Gunn, removing him from production of the third Guardians of the Galaxy film, in the wake of multiple old tweets from the director joking about rape and pedophilia.
There were mixed reactions from fans and celebrities alike, but of all the “Guardians of the Galaxy” actors, Dave Bautista has been the most vocal in support of James Gunn following his firing from the Disney-Marvel film series.
Bautista was even willing to make the ultimate sacrifice over the matter: give up his own job.
Speaking to ShortList, Bautista said, “Where I’m at right now is that if [Marvel] don’t use [Gunn’s] script, then I’m going to ask them to release me from my contract, cut me out or recast me. I’d be doing James a disservice if I didn’t.”
His comment came just hours after taking to Twitter to say he would do the film out of contractual obligation but “Guardians without James Gunn is not what I signed up for.”
Bautista, along with the rest of the film’s cast, released a lengthy letter addressing Gunn’s removal, but none of them went so far as to threaten leaving the movie. Bautista made very clear that he is speaking for himself in this instance, and not his cast members.
“Nobody’s defending his tweets, but this was a smear campaign on a good man,” Bautista told ShortList. “I spoke to Chris Pratt the day after it happened and he’s a bit religious so he wanted time to pray and figure it out, but I was more like: fuck this. This is bullshit. James is one of the kindest, most decent people I’ve met.”
By: Maytinee Kramer
