‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ Stars Respond to James Gunn’s Firing: ‘I Love ALL Members of my GOTG Family’

Beatrice Verhoeven
‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ Stars Respond to James Gunn’s Firing: ‘I Love ALL Members of my GOTG Family’

“Guardians of the Galaxy” stars Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana and Michael Rooker have weighed in on the firing of the franchise’s director James Gunn.

On Sunday, Pratt quoted a Bible verse from the Epistle of James in the New Testament: “Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters. Let every person be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger.”

Saldana, who like Pratt doesn’t mention Gunn by name in her tweet, wrote, “It’s been a challenging weekend I’m not gonna lie. I’m pausing myself to take everything in before I speak out of term. I just want everyone to know I love ALL members of my GOTG family. Always will.”

Also Read: Chris Pratt Goes Biblical in James Gunn Comments

Rooker, who played outlaw Yondu Udonta in the first two films of the franchise, said he would be quitting Twitter “over the ongoing bulls—,” but would remain on Instagram for the foreseeable future.

“This account will be inactive after today. We’re very tired & upset over the ongoing BULLS—… neither I nor my rep will use Twitter again,” he wrote on Sunday. “Twitter sucks and I want nothing to do with it. Thank you to all who gave kind words & support. See you on Instagram.”

Dave Bautista has been defending the filmmaker since Disney announced it would be severing ties with Gunn on Friday. He wrote that day that Gunn is “one of the most loving,caring,good natured people I have ever met.” But on Sunday, his tweets were far more heated, saying that Gunn’s removal had much bigger implications than just the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Also Read: Dave Bautista Rips James Gunn's Firing as a 'Cyber Nazi Attack That Succeeded'

“What will you do when the #cybernazis attack you?” asked Bautista in a tweet on Sunday. “Who will stand by you? Who will cowardly distance themselves from you? Who will punish you for horrible JOKES in the past instead of defending you for INSPIRING millions? MILLIONS!!!”

Sean Gunn defended his “brother James” on Saturday, writing that working on the “Guardians” films changed the director into being a “more open-hearted than the guy who needed to get a rise out of people by making nasty or offensive jokes.”

Lastly, Karen Gillan chimed in, telling her followers on Sunday saying that she sends “love to every single member of my GOTG family.”

Gunn, who has reportedly finished the script for “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,” was removed from the project after alt-right provocateur Mike Cernovich dug up tweets from him prior to joining Disney. They were soon picked up by conservative media and led to Disney studio chairman Alan Horn announcing his dismissal.

See tweets from the “Guardians” cast below.

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 Jul 21, 2018 at 3:47pm PDT

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