Although the Marvel Cinematic Universe fandom has been incredibly vocal on the matter, no one has stood up for filmmaker James Gunn – the man behind the Guardians of the Galaxy movies – more so than Dave Bautista.
For those of you who don’t know (and if you don’t, do you live under a rock?), The Walt Disney Company decided to fire Gunn after disturbing social media comments made in 2011 resurfaced. The filmmaker had come under fire in recent days when Tweets referencing pedophilia and molestation came to light, and it grew to the point where it was problematic enough that Disney felt that some action needed to be taken.
Following his justifiable termination or unnecessary dismissal, depending on who you ask, the portrayer of Drax, Dave Bautista, immediately leapt to defend his director, calling Gunn “one of the most loving, caring, good natured people I have ever met.” A few days later, he returned to social media again, admonishing Disney for caving to the demands of alt-right media personality Mike Cernovich.
Apparently, the Destroyer was nowhere near done blasting the studio as today, Bautista’s continued his rampage against the House of Mouse, re-tweeting an article from The Hollywood Reporter entitled “In Firing James Gunn, Disney Hurts All of Hollywood,” which the actor generously captioned with some colorful language, saying: And then some! Never make a mistake! Don’t have a sense of humor! Don’t be politically outspoken! Etc, f**king etc!!!
Of course, Bautista is far from the only person to oppose the termination of James Gunn. NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar recently questioned the decision made by Disney in an article, also by The Hollywood Reporter, which you can read by clicking here. Not to mention countless others have come to the filmmaker’s defense over the past few days.
As for Bautista, he’s scheduled to begin principal photography on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 this January in Atlanta, but truthfully speaking, with the way the situation’s playing out, it wouldn’t surprise me if the actor walked away from the project – unless Gunn’s brought back, that is.