In case you haven’t heard by now, Guardians of the Galaxy writer-director James Gunn has been fired from making the final film in the Marvel trilogy.
Long story short, he used to make absolutely DISGUSTING jokes on Twitter, stuff about NAMBLA and rape and whatnot.
This was years before he was hired to make films for Disney, and they were never a secret. (He also has some pretty hardcore scenes in his earlier films like Super and the infamous Troma cult classic Tromeo & Juliet.)
He has been vocal in the past about not being that guy anymore and no longer thinking those jokes were funny.
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But a few days ago the vocal Donald Trump hater crossed the wrong conservative (one of the guys who pushed Pizzagate, we shit you not), who went on a deep dive to find archived pics of some of these old tweets.
Disney was quick to fire Gunn, who responded by saying he understood their decision and took responsibility for the earlier behavior even if that wasn’t who he still is.
But not everyone is being as accepting. Over the weekend his GOTG family have all tweeted messages of support, though almost all in subtweet form.
See what Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, and more wrote (below):
“Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters. Let every person be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger.”
JAMES 1:19
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— chris pratt (@prattprattpratt) July 22, 2018
It’s been a challenging weekend I’m not gonna lie. I’m pausing myself to take everything in before I speak out of term. I just want everyone to know I love ALL members of my GOTG family. Always will.
— Zoe Saldana (@zoesaldana) July 22, 2018
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. He’s gentle and kind and cares deeply for people and animals. He’s made mistakes. We all have. Im NOT ok with what’s happening to him
— Dave Bautista (@DaveBautista) July 21, 2018
â¤ï¸ pic.twitter.com/49RokUOI5d
— Pom Klementieff (@PomKlementieff) July 23, 2018
Love to every single member of my GOTG family.
— Karen Gillan (@karengillan) July 23, 2018
Are they under contract not to comment directly or something? Hmm…
If so James’ brother, Sean Gunn, who plays Kraglin the Ravager and also Rocket during filming (Bradley Cooper adds his voice later), may have stepped outside the rules by tweeting a much longer, more straightforward defense:
1. I hope it goes without saying that I love and support my brother James. And I’m quite proud of how kind, generous, and compassionate he is with the people in his life, whether they are friends, family, colleagues, fans, or strangers.
— Sean Gunn (@seangunn) July 21, 2018
2. Since he was a kid, it was clear he had a desire (maybe destiny) to be an artist, tell stories, find his voice through comics, films, his band. The struggle to find that voice was sometimes clunky, misguided, or downright stupid, and sometimes wonderful, moving, and hilarious.
— Sean Gunn (@seangunn) July 21, 2018
3. Since devoting his entire life to the Guardians movies and MCU six years ago, I’ve seen him channel that voice into his work on those movies and seen him transform from the guy who made up things to shock people.
— Sean Gunn (@seangunn) July 21, 2018
4. I saw firsthand as he went from worrying about “softening his edge” for a larger audience to realizing that his “edge” wasn’t as useful of a tool as he thought it was. That his gift for storytelling was something better.
— Sean Gunn (@seangunn) July 21, 2018
5. I saw that he was more open-hearted than the guy who needed to get a rise out of people by making nasty or offensive jokes (or whatever you choose to call them–I don’t think his bluer material was ever his funniest and neither does Mom).
— Sean Gunn (@seangunn) July 21, 2018
6. In many respects this change in my brother was reflected in the change that the Guardians go through. I’ve heard my brother say many times that when Quill rallies the team with “this is our chance to give a shit”–to care–that it’s the pep talk he himself needed to hear.
— Sean Gunn (@seangunn) July 21, 2018
7. It’s part of what made working on the Guardians movies such a rewarding experience for the cast, myself included. We managed to find ourselves involved in a big-budget superhero movie that was, at its core, deeply personal. That’s a gift. And that’s why it’s good.
— Sean Gunn (@seangunn) July 21, 2018
8. This isn’t new information, by the way. It’s all stuff that James has explained many times in interviews, in more detail and more eloquently. It’s not some new spin. It’s always been part of the story.
— Sean Gunn (@seangunn) July 21, 2018
9. So I guess my hope is that fans continue to watch and appreciate the Guardians movies, not despite the fact that the filmmaker used to be kind of a jackass, but because of it. They are, after all, movies about discovering your best self.
— Sean Gunn (@seangunn) July 21, 2018
10. Working on those movies made my brother a better person, and they made me one too. I’m proud of that. Peace.
— Sean Gunn (@seangunn) July 21, 2018
He’s right. Rocket’s entire story is about being a huge jerk who says awful things and is angry at the world — who has to be shown what it means to be part of a family.
And sadly as things stand we won’t get to see the final chapter of that story.
Well, unless Selma Blair has her way.
The Hellboy star is one of many who have shared a petition asking Disney to rehire the director:
Marvel: RE-HIRE JAMES GUNN – Sign the Petition! https://t.co/JeVbFZkQLL via @Change. Because if people are punished despite changing, then what does that teach people about owning mistakes and evolving? This man is one of the good ones.
— Selma Blair (@SelmaBlair) July 22, 2018
So far the petition has gotten over 200,000 signatures in two days.
Though we know Disney rarely blinks at petitions — Lord knows they aren’t going to remake Star Wars: The Last Jedi for pissed off fanboys — this one does have the advantage of being on the right side of things.
Because if people aren’t allowed to grow and change then what’s the point? Look, as much as we all love Captain America, most of us aren’t the infallible Steve Rogers. Most of us have screwed up before and needed life to give us a good kick in the ass before growing up.
And we think James was showing people just such a journey of enlightenment and love in the Guardians films and should be allowed to finish the trip.
What do YOU think??
[Image via Marvel/Brian To/WENN.]
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