Dave Bautista Stands Up For James Gunn, Threatens To Leave ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’

Dave Bautista is best known to moviegoers as Drax, the overly bold teammate in the Guardians of the Galaxy films. As with his fellow actors, he’s unhappy with Disney’s decision to remove director James Gunn from the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, so much so that he’s threatening to quit.

DAVE BAUTISTA STANDS UP FOR JAMES GUNN, THREATENS TO QUIT GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3

Gunn was fired from the forthcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe film last month after a series of tweets he published in 2009 and 2010 were re-publicized by right-wing personality and conspiracy theorist Mike Cernovich. While Gunn did apologize for his crude pedophilia jokes through Twitter and an official statement through ABC, Disney cut ties with him.

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It was a decision that was met by disapproval from series fans and staff. Bautista in particular was upset, citing his support for his colleague and friend on Twitter this past Sunday:

I will do what Im legally obligated to do but @Guardians without @JamesGunn is not what I signed up for. GOTG w/o @JamesGunn just isn’t GOTG. Its also pretty nauseating to work for someone who’d empower a smear campaign by fascists #cybernazis . That’s just how I feel https://t.co/Ym4FwruVDu

— Dave Bautista (@DaveBautista) August 5, 2018

The Guardians stars also penned an open letter, standing up for Gunn and asking him to return to the project. Speaking recently with ShortList, Bautista reaffirmed his commitment to helping Gunn, saying it would be a “disservice” if he didn’t. “I don’t think [it] will get him re-hired,” Bautista confessed. “But I hope it opens people’s eyes to James’ character.”

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Evidently, Gunn’s script for Vol. 3 has already been turned in, although it’s currently unknown if Marvel Studios will use it. “Where I’m at right now is that if [Marvel] don’t use that script, then I’m going to ask them to release me from my contract, cut me out or recast me,” he said.