Little more than a week after Guardians of the Galaxy 3 director James Gunn was sensationally fired from the film by the US studio Disney over past remarks he made on social media which had resurfaced, the film's cast have released an open letter calling for his reinstatement.
The letter was released jointly by actors Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Sean Gunn, Pom Klementieff and Michael Rooker.
The cast have worked with Gunn on two Guardians of the Galaxy films, but his stewardship of the third film was disrupted when tweets he had posted in 2011 were recirculated by conservative activists online reacting to Gunn's criticism of US president Donald Trump.
Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn.Credit: AP
Disney's reaction was predictable and swift: "The offensive attitudes and statements ... are indefensible and inconsistent with our studio's values and we have severed our business relationship with him," the studio said in a statement.
While many such cycles - exhumation of old remarks on social media, brand-damaging headline and sacking - follow a similar script, in Gunn's case there has been a noticeable pushback and, in a perhaps unprecented move, a collective stand taken by the cast of the project to challenge the studio's ruling.
"We fully support James Gunn," the letter from the cast says. "We were all shocked by his abrupt firing last week and have intentionally waited these ten days to respond in order to think, pray, listen, and discuss."
The cast said they could not "let the moment pass without expressing our love, support, and gratitude" for Gunn.
"We are not here to defend his jokes of many years ago but rather to share our experience having spent many years together on set making Guardians of the Galaxy 1 and 2," they said.
"The character he has shown in the wake of his firing is consistent with the man he was every day on set, and his apology, now and from years ago when first addressing these remarks, we believe is from the heart," it said.
The cast noted there "is little due process in the court of public opinion" and said Gunn was "likely not the last good person to be put on trial."
"Given the political divide in this country it's safe to say instances like this will continue, although we hope Americans from across the political spectrum can ease up on the character assassinations and stop weaponising mob mentality," they said.
In comments accompanying the letter, which was posted by the cast in their individual social media channels, actress Zoe Saldana said they were speaking in "support of James Gunn's reinstatement as director of Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3."
Broad reaction to the Gunn sacking has been mixed, and notably drew fire from the comedian Roseanne Barr who was sacked from the smash hit reboot of the sitcom Roseanne after her own controversial comments on social media.
"I'm disgusted to read all of the support for James Gunn’s pedophile jokes [from] the same people supported blacklisting me for a joke they didn't even understand," Barr said.
How Disney responds remains to be seen; the studio has not commented on the open letter released by the film's cast.
But Gunn has publicly apologised for the remarks he made on social media in the past, when they first surfaced several years ago and again when they were dug up recently.
"In the past I have apologised for humour of mine that hurt people," Gunn said. "I truly felt sorry and meant every word of my apologies."
Gunn said when he was younger he viewed himself "as a provocateur, making movies and telling jokes that were outrageous and taboo. As I have discussed publicly many times, as I've developed as a person, so has my work and my humour."
The 51-year-old director said he was "very, very different than I was a few years ago; today I try to root my work in love and connection and less in anger."
The Guardians franchise is one of Disney's most valuable; based on a Marvel Comics title, the two films earned US$1.63 billion in box office receipts.
The third Guardians of the Galaxy film was scheduled to begin schooting later this year for a 2020 release.