James Gunn's brother Sean responds to Guardians firing
Guardians of the Galaxy star Sean Gunn has responded after Disney fired his brother James Gunn as director of Vol 3.
Gunn's old tweets, which included jokes about controversial topics such as paedophilia and rape, prompted the studio to fire the filmmaker.
Dave Bautista (Drax), Chris Pratt (Star-Lord) and Zoe Saldana (Gamora) have all since responded to the news, and Sean is the latest to break his silence.
"I hope it goes without saying that I love and support my brother James. And I'm quite proud of how kind, generous, and compassionate he is with the people in his life, whether they are friends, family, colleagues, fans, or strangers," he wrote on Twitter.
In the series of tweets, Sean goes on to detail how his brother grew alongside the Guardians. "Working on those movies made my brother a better person, and they made me one too. I'm proud of that," he wrote.
Read Sean's full response below:
1. I hope it goes without saying that I love and support my brother James. And I'm quite proud of how kind, generous, and compassionate he is with the people in his life, whether they are friends, family, colleagues, fans, or strangers.
- Sean Gunn (@seangunn) July 21, 2018
2. Since he was a kid, it was clear he had a desire (maybe destiny) to be an artist, tell stories, find his voice through comics, films, his band. The struggle to find that voice was sometimes clunky, misguided, or downright stupid, and sometimes wonderful, moving, and hilarious.
- Sean Gunn (@seangunn) July 21, 2018
3. Since devoting his entire life to the Guardians movies and MCU six years ago, I've seen him channel that voice into his work on those movies and seen him transform from the guy who made up things to shock people.
- Sean Gunn (@seangunn) July 21, 2018
4. I saw firsthand as he went from worrying about "softening his edge" for a larger audience to realizing that his "edge" wasn't as useful of a tool as he thought it was. That his gift for storytelling was something better.
- Sean Gunn (@seangunn) July 21, 2018
5. I saw that he was more open-hearted than the guy who needed to get a rise out of people by making nasty or offensive jokes (or whatever you choose to call them--I don't think his bluer material was ever his funniest and neither does Mom).
- Sean Gunn (@seangunn) July 21, 2018
6. In many respects this change in my brother was reflected in the change that the Guardians go through. I've heard my brother say many times that when Quill rallies the team with "this is our chance to give a shit"--to care--that it's the pep talk he himself needed to hear.
- Sean Gunn (@seangunn) July 21, 2018
7. It's part of what made working on the Guardians movies such a rewarding experience for the cast, myself included. We managed to find ourselves involved in a big-budget superhero movie that was, at its core, deeply personal. That's a gift. And that's why it's good.
- Sean Gunn (@seangunn) July 21, 2018
8. This isn't new information, by the way. It's all stuff that James has explained many times in interviews, in more detail and more eloquently. It's not some new spin. It's always been part of the story.
- Sean Gunn (@seangunn) July 21, 2018
9. So I guess my hope is that fans continue to watch and appreciate the Guardians movies, not despite the fact that the filmmaker used to be kind of a jackass, but because of it. They are, after all, movies about discovering your best self.
- Sean Gunn (@seangunn) July 21, 2018
10. Working on those movies made my brother a better person, and they made me one too. I'm proud of that. Peace.
- Sean Gunn (@seangunn) July 21, 2018
Related: Marvel urged by Selma Blair to rehire James Gunn for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3
Following the decision to remove Gunn from the upcoming Marvel film, a spokesperson for Disney said: "The offensive attitudes and statements discovered on James' Twitter feed are indefensible and inconsistent with our studio's values, and we have severed our business relationship with him."
Gunn has addressed the sacking, both on Twitter and with a subsequent statement, apologising for his past behaviour and crude jokes while promising he's not that person today.
Want up-to-the-minute entertainment news and features? Just hit 'Like' on our Digital Spy Facebook page and 'Follow' on our @digitalspy Instagram and Twitter account.
('You Might Also Like',)