The James Gunn saga continues. Gunn was infamously fired last month by Disney, effectively removing him from the franchise that he helped build, Guardians of the Galaxy. Disney let him go based on a series of inappropriate tweets the director posted a decade ago. Someone who had too much time on their hands decided to search through Gunn's tweets, and internet trolls have made it their mission ever since to find dirt on celebrities from years and years ago. Dave Bautista, who plays Drax in Guardians and also in Avengers: Infinity War, was the first of the cast members to defend Gunn after he was fired. "I will have more to say but for right now all I will say is this..@JamesGunn is one of the most loving, caring, good natured people I have ever met," tweeted the wrestler turned actor.
After signing a joint letter with the rest of the Guardians cast supporting Gunn, Bautista is taking it a step further. In an interview with Shortlist, he revealed that if Marvel and Disney decide to scrap the Guardians 3 script that Gunn created (and literally just handed in before his firing), he would quit the franchise. “Nobody’s defending his tweets, but this was a smear campaign on a good man,” Bautista said. “I spoke to Chris Pratt the day after it happened and he’s a bit religious so he wanted time to pray and figure it out, but I was more like: f*ck this. This is bullshit. James is one of the kindest, most decent people I’ve met.”
“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 continued. “I’d be doing James a disservice if I didn’t.”