Dave Bautista has responded after Warner Bros reportedly hired former Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn following his departure from the franchise.
Earlier this year, Gunn was sacked by Disney after a series of controversial tweets allegedly written in the past by Gunn, surfaced online.
According to Deadline,Warner Bros. and DC have now hired Gunn to write, and possibly direct, the sequel to Suicide Squad. Warner Bros. have also reportedly now confirmed the news to IndieWire.
Now, he’s received backing once more from Dave Bautista, who plays Drax in the hugely popular series.
“Where do I sign up!”, Bautista wrote on Twitter as he shared a link to the story confirming the news.
Bautista hit out at Disney for a “smear campaign” behind Gunn’s sacking, and threatened to leave without his involvement.
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“Guardians without James Gunn is not what I signed up for”, he warned.
Where do I sign up! James Gunn Boards ‘Suicide Squad 2’ To Write And Possibly Direct – Deadline https://t.co/OwdDbAm1Ks
— Dave Bautista (@DaveBautista) October 9, 2018
Speaking about the tweets earlier this year, Gunn wrote: “Many people who have followed my career know when I started, I viewed myself 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.”
He added: “It’s not to say I’m better, but I am 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. My days saying something just because it’s shocking and trying to get a reaction are over.”
Following his sacking, Chris Pratt also defended Gunn, saying “it [was] not an easy time” for the cast after Gunn’s departure. He added: “We all love James and he’s a good friend of ours, but we also really love playing the Guardians of the Galaxy. It’s a complicated situation for everybody. And you know, we just want to move forward and do what’s right and be the best people we can be.”
Earlier this year, it was announced that the sequel to Suicide Squad has been delayed in favour of Harley Quinn spin-off Birds Of Prey. The sequel to the 2016 DC movie was due to start filming in March 2018, but had already been pushed back to October.
The original Suicide Squad starred Will Smith, Margot Robbie and Jared Leto as The Joker. Whilst the film received poor reviews, it was a blockbuster at the box office after taking in $750 million worldwide.
Reviewing the film, NME wrote: “But really, Suicide Squad pretends to be nothing more than a fun, fast, daft, superhero movie, and it absolutely delivers. It’s much like those old comic pages…great to look at, but if you get a bit too close you can see the gaps between the dots.”