Everyone would be more than lucky to have a friend like Dave Bautista. When James Gunn was fired from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 due to the resurfacing of controversial tweets made a decade ago, the actor risked his entire career by slamming Disney repeatedly and even threatening to quit the film. Those in charge eventually decided to reinstate the beloved director, fans rejoiced and Bautista assured everyone that the hatchet between he and Marvel’s parent company had been buried.
In a recent interview though, the former wrestler divulged that he thinks executives knew right away that terminating Gunn was a bad decision:
“It’s just my opinion, but I think they knew early on that it was a bad call. I think they just didn’t know how to come back from that bad call. I was never really disrespectful; I never shit on Disney. It was a bad decision, and I just called them out on it. That’s all. It wasn’t anything out of malice or disrespect. It was just calling them on a bad decision and trying to make them see the big picture. It was a very rash decision.”
There may be some truth to this speculation. The extreme backlash that Disney received after forcing Gunn out may have caused those at the helm to immediately regret their course of action. After production of the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy movie stalled for months, the decision looked even worse. If the reports are true that the studio never even considered hiring another director, it was ultimately inevitable that Gunn would get his job back.
All of this talk surrounding the behind-the-scenes drama can finally be put to bed though and fans can once again get excited for the third installment in this epic franchise. The flick is supposedly a high priority for Marvel, too, seeing as it’s been voted the most-anticipated movie in the MCU now that Avengers: Endgame has come and gone.
A lot of this excitement might have to do with the casting gossip currently surrounding the feature. Stars like Keanu Reeves, Lady Gaga, Zac Efron and Mark Hamill have all been rumored to potentially land roles in the movie. Adding any of these talents to the already star-studded universe would only ramp up enthusiasm for this film.
The most important thing to all though, especially Bautista, is that Gunn is back and ready to work on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, and fans wouldn’t have it any other way.