Guardians of the Galaxy's Dave Bautista Wants to Be 'Recast' If Script By James Gunn Isn't Used

Dave Bautista is willing to take a hard stance in support of fired Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn.

The actor, 49, has previously expressed his support for Gunn multiple times on Twitter, saying that the franchise isn’t the same without its original writer and director. But Bautista went further on Monday when he revealed he’d be opting out of the third movie if Disney and Marvel don’t use Gunn’s already completed script.

“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,” he told Shortlist. “I’d be doing James a disservice if I didn’t.”

Walt Disney Studios announced July 20 that it had split ways from the director following the resurfacing of Gunn’s years-old insensitive tweets which joked about pedophilia and rape. The director was set to start filming sequel starring Chris Pratt in the fall and had been working on the script. He wrote and directed the first two movies, which have made more than $1.6 billion worldwide.

Since the firing, the Guardians cast has not been afraid to speak up on behalf of Gunn. Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Karen Gillan, Bautista, Sean Gunn, Pom Klementieff and Michael Rooker came together to sign a statement in support of the Guardians writer and director, which Pratt posted on Instagram ten days after the news broke.

This was the first time the cast fully addressed Gunn’s firing as a united front.