On screen, the Guardians have formed an unlikely family unit over the course of their two excellent space adventures, and it seems that extends off-screen as well. With filming on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 scheduled for early 2019, and with the surprise firing of James Gunn for tasteless jokes made on Twitter a decade ago, the stars of the movie have begun to slowly put pressure on Marvel to reinstate him by showing solidarity on social media.
Some of their responses have been direct and emotional, with Dave Bautista leaping to Gunn’s defense and putting Disney on blast for caving into a campaign by far-right media personality Mike Cernovich via a series of passionate (and very angry) tweets. Chris Pratt, meanwhile, has been a little more circumspect, posting Bible verses that you don’t have to analyze too hard to work out what his opinions on the matter are.
Elsewhere, Karen Gillan sent her love to “every single member of my GOTG family,” and Pom Klementieff said “We are Groot. We are family. We stand together.” Of course, Zoe Saldana also posted a message of support which has today been bolstered by her sharing two pictures of Gunn and the cast having some fun in happier times.
Aside from Bautista (who seems to be happily burning bridges), it’s understandable why the cast are having to offer their support in subtle ways. Despite being the stars of the movie and having a certain amount of leverage, they’re also under contract to appear in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, and breaking a contract with Disney is likely to be both expensive and incredibly damaging to your future career. So, it seems that these messages of solidarity are the best they can do for now, expressing to the studio and their fans that they’re very unhappy with Gunn’s treatment.
Whether that pressure could make the Mouse House reconsider their decision is another story altogether. I don’t think it’s impossible that James Gunn will return, but if he does, it’s going to leave egg on the face of Disney executives and inevitably turn the movie into a political hot potato.
