The biggest news to emerge out of Comic-Con just happened to be by Marvel Studios, who weren't even officially there. That would, of course, be the shock firing of Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn over tweets posted a decade ago, resurfaced by a right-wing crank who has said far far worse. There has been backlash already; Dave Bautista quickly leapt to Gunn's defense and a petition to rehire the director is packing up steam.
Now we're hearing more from the Guardians cast, and most seem to have his back on this even if they are being coy about it. But let's start with Bautista who had more to say after his opening salvo a few days ago...
What happened here is so much bigger then G3, @JamesGunn ,myself,@Disney etc. This was a #cybernazi attack that succeeded. Unless we start to unite together against this crap, whether people are offended are not! ...it’s going to get much worse. And it can happen to anyone https://t.co/AMZEd0tfqb— Dave Bautista (@DaveBautista) July 22, 2018
Next up is Michael Rooker, a longtime collaborator with Gunn, who has decided to drop out of Twitter altogether...What will you do when the #cybernazis attack you? Who will stand by you? Who will cowardly distance themselves from you? Who will punish you for horrible JOKES in the past instead of defending you for INSPIRING millions? MILLIONS!!! #Redemption #injustice @JamesGunn— Dave Bautista (@DaveBautista) July 22, 2018
Chris Pratt and Karen Gillan didn't exactly leap to Gunn's defense, but they did manage to show their support in more subtle ways...2/2— MichaelRookerOnline (@RookerOnline) July 22, 2018
This account will be inactive after today. We're very tired & upset over the ongoing BULLSHIT... neither I nor my rep will use Twitter again. Twitter sucks and I want nothing to do with it.
Thank you to all who gave kind words & support. See you on Instagram.
- MR pic.twitter.com/uAyIOPoAle
“Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters. Let every person be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger.”— chris pratt (@prattprattpratt) July 22, 2018
JAMES 1:19
🙏♥️
Love to every single member of my GOTG family.— Karen Gillan (@karengillan) July 23, 2018
Just to clarify, I'll speak more on this later but just wanted to make sure that was out there. Love to you all.— Karen Gillan (@karengillan) July 23, 2018
Zoe Saldana also played it close to the vest, but still showed her support for Gunn without mentioning his name...
And naturaly James' brother Sean Gunn had a lot to say on the matter. While Bautista may be the most outwardly enraged, it's Sean who really goes extensively into how much James has changed over the years. Here's just the beginning of his ten-part tweet...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
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
