Dave Bautista Says James Gunn’s Firing Is Bigger Than ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’

Guardians of the Galaxy star Dave Bautista is continuing his defense of the recently-ousted James Gunn taking to Twitter earlier today to share additional thoughts on the scenario, hinting that the firing coudl set a dangerous precedent. Before too long, he was seemingly joined by Guardians of the Galaxy co-stars Chris Pratt and Zoe Saldana.

“What will you do when the #cybernazis attack you? Who will stand by you?” Bautista tweeted. “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,” the actor tweet before tagging Gunn’s Twitter handle.

Before too long, Bautista sent a follow-up tweet, admitting that the firing is much bigger than the actor or the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3.

“What happened here is so much bigger then G3, @JamesGunn ,myself,@Disney etc. This was a #cybernazi attack that succeeded,” the actor tweeted. “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.”

Gunn’s brother Sean — who happens to play Kraglin in the Guardians franchise in addition to acting as the on-set motion capture actor for Rocket Raccoon — had previously released a statement in his brother’s defense.

“So I guess my hope is that fans continue to watch and appreciate the Guardians movies, not despite the fact that the filmmaker used to be kind of a jackass, but because of it. They are, after all, movies about discovering your best self,” Gunn wrote. “Working on those movies made my brother a better person, and they made me one too. I’m proud of that. Peace.”

Old — and very offensive, horrible tweets were unearthed earlier in the week by alt-right bloggers. After a media firestorm — and even a Senator calling for Gunn’s prosecution — Disney suffered ties with the fan-favorite director Friday afternoon.

In a statement from Disney, Chairman of Walt Disney Studios Alan Horn cites:

“The offensive attitudes and statements on James’ Twitter feed are indefensible and inconsistent with our studio’s values, and we have severed our business relationship with him.”

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 was expected to shoot in January ahead of a May 2020 release, although Gunn’s firing may affect the schedule.