Dave Bautista Says He Wants Out of GUARDIANS 3 if James Gunn’s Script Isn’t Used
Warning: This post contains a spoiler for Avengers: Infinity War.
Over the weekend, Dave Bautista weighed in (yet again) on the dire situation facing the production of Marvel's Guardians of The Galaxy Vol. 3: following the termination of James Gunn, the project is now in desperate need of a director, and Disney may even need to push the film's start date back until they find someone who wants the job (you can read more about that right here).
We already knew the rest of the Guardians cast wasn't thrilled about this situation, but Bautista has seemed ... well, he's certainly been the most outspoken member of the group.
I will do what Im legally obligated to do but @Guardians without @JamesGunn is not what I signed up for. GOTG w/o @JamesGunn 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 https://t.co/Ym4FwruVDu
— Dave Bautista (@DaveBautista) August 5, 2018
Now, in a new interview with ShortList, Bautista has doubled-down on his displeasure with the studio, and says that if they aren't planning to use James Gunn's script for Guardians of The Galaxy Vol. 3, well ... they might need to hire themselves a new Drax.
Here's the quote:
“Nobody’s defending his tweets, but this was a smear campaign on a good man. I spoke to Chris Pratt the day after it happened and he’s a bit religious so he wanted time to pray and figure it out, but I was more like: fuck this. This is bullshit. James is one of the kindest, most decent people I’ve met.
“Where I’m at right now is that if [Marvel] don’t use that script, then I’m going to ask them to release me from my contract, cut me out or recast me. I’d be doing James a disservice if I didn’t.”
It's hard to know how any of us might react, were we to find ourselves in Bautista's shoes. On the one hand, if you've spent the better part of the past decade building a character, you probably want to see that journey through to the end. On the other hand, if you're not onboard with the creative team guiding you on that journey - or the studio calling the shots up at the very top of the food chain - what're you supposed to do? Tough spot to be in.
We already know Disney's not gonna reverse their decision regarding Gunn. Guess now we have to wait and see what other decisions will be made, and how those decisions will impact the rest of the cast (for the record, seems to this writer like they wouldn't necessarily need to hire a new Drax: you could just leave him dead following the events of Avengers: Infinity War). Stay tuned for further updates as they roll in, folks.