Following James Gunn’s dismissal from Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 last month, Drax the Destroyer actor Dave Bautista says he doesn’t want to appear in the film unless Gunn’s script is used.
Gunn was fired from his role as director of the film after a collection of inappropriate jokes about topics like rape and paedophilia written between 2008 and 2012 were unearthed from his Twitter account.
“Nobody’s defending his tweets, but this was a smear campaign on a good man,” Bautista told Shortlist. “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 bullsh*t. 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.”
Bautista reiterated his point on his own Twitter account earlier this week when asked about his support for Gunn.
“Love your support for James Gunn. Do you have any plans or response if Disney doesn’t reinstate him for GotG3?” the original tweet by Twitter user @eliaseliot read.
I will do what Im legally obligated to do but @Guardians without @JamesGunn is not what I signed up for. GOTG w/o @JamesGunn just isn’t GOTG. Its also pretty nauseating to work for someone who’d empower a smear campaign by fascists #cybernazis . That’s just how I feel https://t.co/Ym4FwruVDu
— Dave Bautista (@DaveBautista) August 5, 2018
“I will do what I’m legally obligated to do, but Guardians without James Gunn is not what I signed up for,” Bautista wrote. “GOTG without James Gunn just isn’t GOTG. It’s also pretty nauseating to work for someone who’d empower a smear campaign by fascist cybernazis. That’s just how I feel.”
Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 will be in cinemas in 2020. Get all the latest superhero news with every issue of SciFiNow.