Stars of the 2014 released American Superhero film, Guardians of the Galaxy, have petitioned for the film’s director, James Gunn to be reinstated for Volume 3.
The cast of the film; Chris Pratt, Michal Rooker, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Karen Gillan, Sean Gunn, Pom Klementieff and Zoe Saidana published a petitioned article on Monday asking for the comeback of James to direct its third volume. James was fired last week after conservative personalities resurfaced old tweets in which the filmmaker joked about controversial topics, including pedophilia and rape.
The open letter signed by the stars read,
“To our fans and friends:
We fully support James Gunn. We were all shocked by his abrupt firing last week and have intentionally waited these ten days to respond in order to think, pray, listen, and discuss. In that time, we’ve been encouraged by the outpouring of support from fans and members of the media who wish to see James reinstated as director of Volume 3 as well as discouraged by those so easily duped into believing the many outlandish conspiracy theories surrounding him.
Being in the “Guardians of the Galaxy” movies has been a great honor in each of our lives. We cannot let this moment pass without expressing our love, support, and gratitude for James. We are not here to defend his jokes of many years ago but rather to share our experience having spent many years together on set making Guardians consistent with the man he was every day on set, and his apology, now and from years ago when first addressing these remarks, we believe is from the heart, a heart who find redemption , he changed our lives forever. We believe the theme of redemption has never been more relevant than now.
Each of us looks forward to working with our friend James again in the future. His story isn’t over-not by a long shot.
There is little due process in the court of public opinion. James is likely not the last good person to be put on trial. Given the growing political divide in this country, it’s safe to say instances like this will continue, although we hope Americans from across the political spectrum can ease up on the character assassinations and stop weaponizing mob mentality.
It is our hope that what has transpired can serve as an example for all of us to realize the enormous responsibility we have to ourselves and to each other regarding the use of our written words when we etch them in digital stone; that we as society may learn from this experience and in the future will think twice before we decide what we want to express ; and in so learning perhaps can harness this capacity to help and heal instead of hurting each other. Thank you for taking the time to read our words.
The Guardians of the Galaxy”.
Chris Prat shared the petition letter via his Instagram page and captioned, “Although 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”.
James issued a public apology after Walt Disney Studios chairman, Alan Horn announced his firing, accepting his fault and stating that he can only be the best human being that he can be now. “I take full responsibility for the way I conducted myself then. All I can do now, beyond offering my sincere and heartfelt regret is to be the best human being I can be: accepting, understanding, committed to equality, and far more thoughtful about my public statements and my obligations to our public discourse,” said Gunn.
Guardians of the Galaxy is an American superhero film produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion pictures.
