A little over a week ago, “Guardians of the Galaxy” director James Gunn was removed from the upcoming third film in the series due to the resurfacing of some controversial tweets from several years ago.
Last week, stars of the “Guardians of the Galaxy” franchise posted their support for their friend using their own social media.
Today, the cast shared a letter explaining to their fans and friends their support for Gunn, as well as their wishes to work with him again in the future. The letter is signed by Chris Pratt (Star-Lord), Zoe Saldana (Gamora), Dave Bautista (Drax), Bradley Cooper (Rocket), Vin Diesel (Groot), Michael Rooker (Yondu), Pom Klementieff (Mantis), Karen Gillan (Nebula), and Sean Gunn (Kraglin). Each of them– with the exception of Cooper who does not use social media– shared the letter from their Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts.
If you please, read the statement written and signed by The Guardians of the Galaxy cast in support of James Gunn’s reinstatement as director of GOTG Volume 3. pic.twitter.com/TjNA9RF6M8
— Zoe Saldana (@zoesaldana) July 30, 2018
#IStandWithJamesGunn #RehireJamesGunn #WeAreGroot pic.twitter.com/w3uh61hd78
— Dave Bautista (@DaveBautista) July 30, 2018
Though I don’t support James Gunn’s inappropriate jokes from years ago he is a good man. I’d personally love to see him reinstated as director of Volume 3. If you please, read the following statement- signed by our entire cast. pic.twitter.com/yARkC4HZ6y
— Pom Klementieff (@PomKlementieff) July 30, 2018
A few words from the Guardians of the Galaxy #wearegroot pic.twitter.com/s62ffGtOQo
— Karen Gillan (@karengillan) July 30, 2018
Although I don’t support James Gunn’s inappropriate jokes from years ago, he is a good man and a good friend. Please…
Posted by Michael Rooker on Monday, July 30, 2018
In addition to the support from the stars of “Guardians of the Galaxy,” a petition on change.org to get Disney to rehire Gunn for “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” now has more than 300,000 signatures. You can see and/or sign the petition here.
The “Guardians of the Galaxy” films have been a massive success for Disney and Marvel Studios thus far, with the first two movies earning $773 million and $863 million worldwide.
“Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3” is currently slated to hit theaters in 2020.