As the debate continues to wage on regarding Disney’s decision to fire James Gunn, the Change.org petition for the company to rehire the director to helm Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is nearing 150,000 signatures.
No matter where you stand on the matter, there’s no denying that Gunn’s sudden firing on Friday has been the focal point of many conversations throughout the weekend, even as Marvel Studios opted to skip out on Comic-Con International this year. So, it’s not entirely surprising then that the debate has led to a fan-launched petition in order to try and reinstate Gunn as the director on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. The ChangeOn petition, which was launched by Chandler Edwards two days ago, is officially closing in on its latest goal of 150k signatures. In fact, as of this writing, the fan petition is now sitting out an astounding 125k signatures — and should extend well beyond its goal by day’s end.
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Since Disney announced the decision to terminate its business relationship with Gunn on Friday, both parties have been relatively quiet, with the director’s social media going abnormally quiet and Marvel Studios having yet to make any sort of statement regarding the decision. However, that hasn’t kept those close to the director from speaking out on his behalf. Dave Bautista, who plays Drax in the Guardians films, has been very vocal about his displeasure on Disney’s decision to fire him. Meanwhile, Gunn’s brother, Sean Gunn, has opted to acknowledge his brother’s past mistakes, while still making it clear he will always support him.
Gunn’s support system extends far beyond his Marvel family, too, as actress Selma Blair took to social media to throw her support behind the director while also retweeting the petition for her followers to sign. It remains to be seen, though, if any of this actually makes a difference. After all, most companies tend to ignore petitions — no matter how much support is thrown behind them. Of course, anything is possible and Disney could surprise us all and decide to reinstate the director after doing a proper and thorough investigation into the matter.
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Gunn had recently completed his first draft of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which was slated to begin filming in January in Atlanta for a 2020 release. However, Marvel Studios had yet to officially announce a release date, and it’s unclear at this time how Gunn’s firing will affect plans for the sequel.
Via Change.org