Dave Bautista Reacts to Disney’s ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’ Decision

After news hit that Disney will not rehire James Gunn to direct Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, fans have been waiting to hear responses from the cast members of Marvel’s hit franchise.

Drax actor Dave Bautista, one of the most prominent critics of Disney‘s decision, has spoken out on the move with a heavy dose of sarcasm. Take a look at his tweet below.

“Thanks, Disney !! Making America great again,” he wrote on the social media site, adding an American flag emoji to further sell the point.

Bautista is referring to Donald Trump’s slogan for his 2016 presidential campaign, a phrase that has since become a mantra for his supporters. It’s use here is a direct callout of the alt-right bloggers who would frequently argue with Gunn about politics on Twitter. Those same bloggers dug up Gunn’s old tweets that subsequently caused Disney to sever ties with him.

Gunn made frequent references to pedophilia, transmisogyny, and other topics more than a decade ago. Though he has since apologized for what he claimed were jokes, Disney found it necessary to sever ties with the director for comments deemed insensitive in light of the Me Too era.

Bautista has constantly berated his employer’s decision to ax Gunn, claiming he would quit the project if they didn’t use his script for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.

“I will do what Im (sic) legally obligated to do but [Guardians of the Galaxy] without [James Gunn] is not what I signed up for. GOTG w/o [James Gunn] just isn’t GOTG. Its also pretty nauseating to work for someone who’d empower a smear campaign by fascists #cybernazis . That’s just how I feel,” Bautista previously posted on Twitter.

Disney putting their foot down comes in the wake of many colleagues and actors lending their support to Gunn, calling for him to get his job back.

The main cast of the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise all signed a letter pledging their support:

“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 a 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 capability to help and heal instead of hurting each other. Thank you for taking the time to read our words.”

The letter, signed by Bautista, Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Karen Gillan, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Pom Klementieff, Sean Gunn, and Michael Rooker, was not enough to convince Walt Disney Studios chairman Alan Horn to reverse his decision.