Guardians of the Galaxy James gunn fired!!! - Part 1

[Primal Slayer]

They are all under contracts which I doubt they'll break which is why Bautista is probably looking to get fired.

 

[DACrowe]

Bautista is making this the hill he dies on; he doesn’t care if he’s fired or not, and if he is indeed fired it will backfire on Disney because other actors will now feel awkward if they decided to stay on GOTG 3.

The thought did cross my mind that the only reason Disney hasn't fired him yet is they're afraid it'll cause other actors to walk, and then there goes an easy guarantee of $800 million at the box office before merchandising and home media booty is counted.

Obviously they'd like to fire him, but only after they have a replacement (if they recast) announced and a new director attached so they can spin it as "bigger and brighter new things!" However, if Bautista keeps running his mouth and they don't reprimand him... well... they're in a really awkward spot. Couldn't have happened to a nicer megalomaniacal corporation.

 

[Kuwolski]

I hope Dave doesn't hurt is career. The scrap pile of actors who have ruined their careers being troublesome is big. It would be easy for Disney to be vindictive here merely by making him honor his contract. There is also the fact that he's making things awkward for other cast members who may/likely want to continue on. The best way for big Dave to handle this is behind the scenes. As much as I love what he's doing and agree the firing is idiotic, there is no need for him to sink himself in the process. Scoring brownie points on twitter of all places by attacking his employer will not help his pedigree in Hollywood.

What a mess.

 

[AlluAllu]

I'm pretty sure Bautista won't be doing press junkets, even if he stays.

But I'm not sure how the interviews would go with any of the cast. Maybe Disney will just ban this topic.

 

[TheVileOne]

Taking things clearly out of context. The idea that Disney is pro-Trump is so obviously BS.

But if we want to get into hypocrisy, Big Dave's favorite boss was/is Vince McMahon who is a Trump supporter and good friend. And yet somehow, he still keeps calling the WWE asking if he can have one last run. Interesting...

Vince's wife works for Donald Trump.

 

[Raiden]

Vince's wife works for Donald Trump.

Exactly. So for Bautista to mock Disney by using MAGA is rather ironic. I applaud him for standing his ground, but things like this only makes him seemed hypocritical.

 

[TheVileOne]

Exactly. So for Bautista to mock Disney by using MAGA is rather ironic. I applaud him for standing his ground, but things like this only makes him seemed hypocritical.

Once again, I read the guy's book. He's not the sharpest knife in the drawer.

 

[batdude]

The thought did cross my mind that the only reason Disney hasn't fired him yet is they're afraid it'll cause other actors to walk, and then there goes an easy guarantee of $800 million at the box office before merchandising and home media booty is counted.

Obviously they'd like to fire him, but only after they have a replacement (if they recast) announced and a new director attached so they can spin it as "bigger and brighter new things!" However, if Bautista keeps running his mouth and they don't reprimand him... well... they're in a really awkward spot. Couldn't have happened to a nicer megalomaniacal corporation.

If Chris Pratt and Zoe Saldana walk, Guardians 3 is in real trouble. They might think they can replace Bautista with Jon Cena and get away with it. but you know they will blame Dave Bautista and James Gunn if the movie bombs.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Vince's wife works for Donald Trump.

I mean, what else is there to say?

 

[Web-Head]

If Chris Pratt and Zoe Saldana walk, Guardians 3 is in real trouble. They might think they can replace Bautista with Jon Cena and get away with it. but you know they will blame Dave Bautista and James Gunn if the movie bombs.

I mean, chances are Zoe won't be in it anyway...

 

[terry78]

If they can't get them all back, they'll just do what the comics do and rotate the roster. They obviously already had a plan in place for every facet of the MCU if someone acts "out of turn."

 

[NotNickFury]

Using 'Make America Great Again' when going after Disney?

So what was Bautista trying to accomplish with that? It's Gunn who is being held accountable for his tweets and past- no one else. Not Trump's fault for Gunn's past.

 

[BaronZemo]

Bautista has become annoying. The decision is entirely justifiable, een more so after the part photos. This was clearly an orchestrated attack and the photos only came to light AFTER there were reports that Disney might rehire him.

That tells me that whoever was behind it (and we all know who it was) had more dirt for Gunn and he was gonna go to plan C or D until things would become irreversible. Disney did the right thing to end it now before it would become even uglier.

Dave needs to shut it and decide if he is gonna wait to see the who the new director is and hear his vision before acting like a man-child.

 

[BaronZemo]

Also there are various reports that Feige fought to keep both Gunn and his script for GOTG VOl 3 and now Variety says theya re probably gonna keep the script so Feige clearly wasn't neutral about this.

He fought. Iger and Horn weren't having so what do you want him to do? Resign?

 

[Travesty]

Bautista is sounding like a paranoid conspiracy theorist. There's not much he can do, he's just an actor, and he doesn't have all this power to control the outcome. This is just making it harder on the other cast mates. I mean, hell, they could just scrap GotG3 all together, and just move on with other Marvel movies(I doubt it, but they could).

He's just making it much worse. What a mess.

 

[SomeOldGuy]

Also there are various reports that Feige fought to keep both Gunn and his script for GOTG VOl 3 and now Variety says theya re probably gonna keep the script so Feige clearly wasn't neutral about this.

He fought. Iger and Horn weren't having so what do you want him to do? Resign?

Yeah, I agree. More, I’d say Feige did in fact win more than he lost. We went from a completely “severed business relationship” (Horn’s initial words) to taking meetings with Gunn, using his script and an open door to retuning in the future. Horn by contrast looks pretty dumb, having to walk back everything but the actual firing, and costing the company a reported $7-10 million for that. If he jumped at the chance to can Gunn as a way to show the board and shareholders that he’s the kind of strong and decisive leader Disney needs when Iger retires next year (and I strongly suspect that was his prime motive), then things really blew up in his face.

 

[Starcat]

Gotta say, I really admire Bautista for speaking out about this. If only there were more Dave Bautistas in the world...

 

[Raiden]

Gotta say, I really admire Bautista for speaking out about this. If only there were more Dave Bautistas in the world...

I do too, but mocking Disney with MAGA while he used to work for Vince McMahon is just stupid.

 

[WhoMani]

Considering Bautista's stance on this issue... it would be interesting to know what the other casts think of this mess and whether they will speak out against Disney. I wouldn't be surprised if we don't see a couple of characters in the next Guardians movie and that they will just rotate some of the rosters.

 

[jr24tw]

If Chris Pratt and Zoe Saldana walk, Guardians 3 is in real trouble. They might think they can replace Bautista with Jon Cena and get away with it. but you know they will blame Dave Bautista and James Gunn if the movie bombs.

I've said it before but there is no way Zoe can or would walk. When the FOX deal goes through, Avatar will be a Disney property and there are 4 sequels on the line for that franchise. IMO Zoe and most of her GOTG co-stars did the smart thing, they signed that letter they put out and left it at that.


Just because Bautista decides to be an idiot on top of a hypocrite, doesn't mean the other actors should follow.

 

[Kuwolski]

My guess is they'll handle things behind the scenes and the petition is as far as the other cast members are willing to go publicly. They'll likely wait it out and talk with Feige (if they haven't already). Depending how things play out on that end we may hear more from them later.

On the other hand, they may be ready to drop bombs of their own...

 

[Zarex]

I do too, but mocking Disney with MAGA while he used to work for Vince McMahon is just stupid.

Should Dave have worked for one of the liberal billionaire pro wrestling magnates?

Athletes can work for conservative billionaire owners without supporting their garbage politics. We see this every week with the brave souls kneeling to protest police violence against people of color. God bless folks like Dave that will put their careers on the line for principle.

And the use of MAGA is appropriate. Dave was specifically pointing out how Disney kowtowed to cybernazis that took issue with James' criticism of Putin's Pet. And were out for blood after Roseanne's cast and crew threw her under the bus. Disney's retroactive firing of a director who delivered two wildly successful films without a single inappropriate incident was disgraceful. Everyone involved with the decision should be ashamed of themselves.

 

[batfreakforever]

As a business point of view Disney to me did the right thing and fired Gunn. I see it as Disney found heaps of revolting and vile tweets and now some photos that they think are bad from Gunn and maybe fired him too on the grounds of wow this was years ago but hey he might have so much more things hidden that Disney don't want to be around for when they may or may not be unearthed so with Disney firing him they don't have to deal with future sick stuff Gunn might have been involved with. Disney just probably wanted to distance themselves from any future unearthings. Disney's not short on cash and the MCU will survive without him. I'm just trying to see it from their side of things because Gunn was an acclaimed and very successful director for them with the guardians movies and then they fired him for old tweets but then again other entertainers have been fired from companies for their past actions so Disney is no different.

 

[Frodo]

Yeah, I agree. More, I’d say Feige did in fact win more than he lost. We went from a completely “severed business relationship” (Horn’s initial words) to taking meetings with Gunn, using his script and an open door to retuning in the future. Horn by contrast looks pretty dumb, having to walk back everything but the actual firing, and costing the company a reported $7-10 million for that. If he jumped at the chance to can Gunn as a way to show the board and shareholders that he’s the kind of strong and decisive leader Disney needs when Iger retires next year (and I strongly suspect that was his prime motive), then things really blew up in his face.

Well I kinda agree and disagree. From a temporary PR pov with fans , actors , the media you're probably right, in how they handled the whole situation blew up in his face.

But the bottom line is , the story is still, for the most part, an fandom and inside Hollywood baseball story in which the GA knows nothing about and could care less about.

In the end , that's really who Horn and Iger were concerned about ( and the shareholders), in their decision and not the angry fans and cast who made a stink.

They're using Gunn's script ,while at the same time, not backing down to fans and the cast. They've got the best of both world's from their standpoint.

They have Gunn's creative vision without Gunn and his past statements, and have asserted their power over Marvel ,and their word is the final word on the issue of rehiring. Now , that can come back to bite him for sure, but for now Disney got what they wanted.

Gunn isn't directing, they have his script and his vision, they've basically told the fans to "get used to it", and they're moving forward with GOTG 3, for now at least.

 

[Web-Head]

I'm thinking this might be pushed back now. Especially with Dr Strange 2 supposedly looking to film next Spring