GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY Cast is United in Statement For Disney to Rehire Director James Gunn



The biggest news piece during San Diego Comic-Con International 2018 was not something that was revealed in Hall H. It was the news of Disney firing GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY franchise writer and director James Gunn for distasteful tweets he made nearly a decade ago.

Please note: This is not a defense of Gunn's unfunny attempts at being provocative.

Gunn came up through the Hollywood circuit with Troma... a company who thrives in edginess, risk-taking, and sometimes distastefulness. That's the studios' way and Gunn came up from it. Disney and Marvel Studios hired Gunn knowing his background and knowing his past work were not in-line with the Mouse's family- and kid-friendly values. Disney knew all of this and there is no way they did not do some due diligence to see his risky edge in writing and directing. In fact, that edge was a likely draw of bringing him on to helm the Guardians franchise.

After Gunn was brought on to first GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY movie, his unfunny and provocative nature as an auteur on social media came to the forefront and he apologized for it in 2012, here. Disney still brought Gunn on to helm the space opera franchise, regardless.

The message of the Guardians movies is how bad people learn to become better. Some could say Gunn was a "bad person" prior to landing the franchise of the lifetime, but he put his own life and career on the path to becoming a much better human when he began working for Disney and Marvel Studios. The GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY franchise is a mirror reflection of Gunn finding his true calling and becoming better for it, just the same as the franchise's main characters.

Disney has fucked up the basic concept of the Guardians franchise by firing Gunn in such a knee-jerk reaction way allowing social media extremists behind the drudging up of his old tweets to win this battle. A victory for them is no victory for Disney by firing Gunn without looking at his progression as a person from the time those tweets were made until today.

Sure, he's been very vocal on social media about the current U.S. President, and his Administration, but that's his right to free speech. Anybody can say anything on social media, but there should always be a fear of some kind of blowback in this divisive days we live in.

As Gunn has stated in his own apology after being let go, he is not the same person he was then as he was still a creative who was trying to find his voice. Coming from Troma, it's hard to blame him for continuing to be edgy. Although it now seems official that provocative comedy is dead and a target for social media extremists to exploit.

Gunn does have lots of love from his cast of the Guardians films, who are united and stand with Gunn. Together they hope Disney reconsiders their firing and reinstates Gunn to helm GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3. Here's the cast's unified letter:


Here's the transcription:

An Open Letter from the Cast of Guardians of the Galaxy

To our fans and friends:

We fully support James Gunn. We were all shocked by his abrupt firing last week and have intentionally waited these ten days to respond in order to think, pray, listen, and discuss. In that time, we’ve been encouraged by the outpouring of support from fans and members of the media who wish to see James reinstated as director of Volume 3 as well as discouraged by those so easily duped into believing the many outlandish conspiracy theories surrounding him.

Being in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies has been a great honor in each of our lives.We cannot let this moment pass without expressing our love, support, and gratitude for James. We are not here to defend his jokes of many years ago but rather to share our experience having spent many years together on set making Guardians of the Galaxy 1 and 2. The character he has shown in the wake of his firing is consistent with the man he was every day on set, and his apology, now and from years ago when first addressing these remarks, we believe is from the heart, a heart we all know, trust, and love. In casting each of us to help him tell the story of misfits who find redemption, he changed our lives forever. We believe the theme of redemption has never been more relevant than now.

Each of us looks forward to working with our friend James again in the future. His story isn’t over—not by a long shot.

There is little due process in the court of public opinion. James is likely not the last good person to be put on trial. Given the political divide in this country, it’s safe to say instances like this will continue, although we hope Americans from across the political spectrum can ease up on the character assassinations and stop weaponizing mob mentality.

It is our hope that what has transpired can serve as an example for all of us to realize the enormous responsibility we have to ourselves and to each other regarding the use of our written words when we etch them in digital stone; that we as a society may learn from this experience and in the future will think twice before we decide what we want to express; and in so learning perhaps can harness this capability to help and heal instead of hurting each other. Thank you for taking the time to read our words.

The Guardians of the Galaxy

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This united front by the main actors and actresses is a very strong sign they are not happy right now. Sure, they are all contracted to be in more Guardians movies, yet Disney could have a growing problem on their hands by bringing in another director who the cast will have to work with. They are all professionals and will more than likely do their jobs to the best of their ability, but to have an inkling of anger and/or annoyance in the back of their mind while filming scenes for Volume 3 without Gunn at the helm is not a good thing, either.

Gunn finished the script and GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3 was set to begin filming in late this year or early 2019 for a possible 2020 release date. No word on what will happen with the film and there's a good chance if Gunn is not reinstated it could be delayed; as a new director needs to be found to replace Gunn at the helm and perhaps a director can be found who can use the majority of Gunn's script so his Trilogy vision can be completed. (Hey Taika Waititi, you busy?!)

Regardless of your political beliefs, James Gunn was done wrong in this situation which is one he already apologized for several years ago. Disney definitely looks like the villain here, even more so than those extremists who helped to expose Gunn.

Written by Daniel Wolf, Founder & Publisher

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