The Guardians of the Galaxy cast is still struggling with Walt Disney Studios’ decision to fire James Gunn as the director of the Marvel Comics movie franchise.
“It’s not an easy time,” Chris Pratt, who plays Star-Lord, told the Associated Press on Tuesday, August 14. “We all love James and he’s a good friend of ours, but we also really love playing the Guardians of the Galaxy. It’s a complicated situation for everybody. And you know, we just want to move forward and do what’s right and be the best people we can be.”
The 39-year-old actor said he found out about the news while attending Comic-Con in San Diego. “I ended up not doing a lot of interviews around that time just because it was so shocking,” he told the news agency.
Disney chairman Alan Horn announced on July 20 that Gunn, 52, had been fired after alt-right personalities resurfaced decade-old tweets in which he joked about pedophilia and rape. The filmmaker apologized both before and after he was dropped by the studio.
Pratt and his costars Zoe Saldana, Karen Gillan, Bradley Cooper, Sean Gunn, Vin Diesel, Dave Bautista, Pom Klementieff and Michael Rooker released an open letter on July 30 in support of reinstating Gunn.
“All I know is we put a lot of time, thought and effort into the statement that we released about it,” Pratt told the AP. “And I think we all kind of want that statement to be essentially what we have to say about it. And we were pretty clear and honest about how we feel.”
The Parks and Recreation alum is not the only Guardians star who is having trouble dealing with Gunn’s ousting. Bautista, 49, recently threatened to quit the upcoming third movie if the director’s script is not used.
“Where I’m at right now is that if [Marvel] doesn’t use that script, then I’m going to ask them to release me from my contract, cut me out or recast me,” the retired pro wrestler told ShortList on August 6. “I’d be doing James a disservice if I didn’t.”
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Disney still plans on using Gunn’s script.
