‘Guardians Of The Galaxy’ Stars, Fans React To Disney’s Firing Of James Gunn

Guardians of the Galaxy stars and fans alike have spoken out against Walt Disney Studios’ decision to fire James Gunn as writer-director of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Gunn‘s removal from the franchise follows a resurfacing of multiple offensive tweets from the writer-director from several years ago. Disney‘s decision provoked immediate outrage from fans and many Hollywood personalities and now some of the Guardians actors themselves have spoken out about it.

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Chris Pratt (Peter Quill/Starlord), lead actor of the franchise, posted a Bible verse on Twitter in reference to the situation:

Michael Rooker who played Yondu, a fierce space pirate and Starlord’s unconventional father-figure, announced that he was deactivating his Twitter account in response to the “ongoing BULLS—T.” Rooker references the fact that Twitter users regularly use the social media platform to dig up old dirt on celebrities out of anger. He also wrote, “Twitter sucks and I want nothing to do with it. Thank you to all who gave kind words & support. See you on Instagram.”

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Dave Bautista, who plays Drax, has also been vocal on Twitter where he expressed his support of Gunn and his outrage over his termnation. Baustista has also retweeted several think pieces about how Disney’s decision sets a harmful precedent for “equating the merely tastless with the actually dangerous.” 

 

Zoe Saldana (Gamora) wrote that she is taking some time to think her words through before releasing an official statement, but sent love to “ALL members” of her “GOTG family.”

 

Pom Klementieff, who plays Mantis — a powerful empath — seemed to channel her character when she posted a video of herself writing a note referencing one of Guardians’ most powerful quotes. “We are Groot. We are a family. We stand together,” Klementieff shared.

 

Fans have expressed their outrage in the form of a petition for Disney to rehire Gunn. The petition’s author wrote, “I’m smart enough to know this most likely won’t change anything but hopefully, this could get Disney to realize the mistake they made and not do it again in the future.” The change.org petition has over 200,000 signatures.