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Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn took to Twitter to defend franchise actor Chris Pratt whose popularity has taken a plunge ever since Pratt aligned himself with a congregation affiliated with the mostly defunct controversial Hillsong Church.
His post was a response to a viral tweet suggesting Marvel replace Pratt with Patrick Wilson for the upcoming Gurdians films.
The viral tweet read:
"Marvel. Hear me out."
"Just… replace him."
Gunn fired back:
"For what?"
"Because of your made-up, utterly-false beliefs about him?"
"For something that someone else told you about him that’s not true?"
"Chris Pratt would never be replaced as Star-Lord but, if he ever was, we would all be going with him."
For what? Because of your made-up, utterly-false beliefs about him? For something that someone else told you about him that\u2019s not true? Chris Pratt would never be replaced as Star-Lord but, if he ever was, we would all be going with him.— James Gunn (@James Gunn) 1650902672
Pratt has been the subject of criticism because of his conservative Evangelical Christian views and some problematic comments.
During the 2020 election season, he received backlash for his appearance on SNL where he seemingly encouraged viewers not to vote.
The Marvel star was affiliated with an anti-LGBTQ church. Actor Elliot Page called Pratt4 out for being a member of a hateful religious institution.
After the accusations about his church gained attention, the actor spoke up.
He said:
“It has recently been suggested that I belong to a church which ‘hates a certain group of people’ and is ‘infamously anti-LGBTQ.’"
"Nothing could be further from the truth. I go to a church that opens their doors to absolutely everyone.”
However the public record tells a different story about the church Pratt defended.
Isn't like... every church homophobic?— Name cannot be blank headass (@Name cannot be blank headass) 1650948586
Gunn—despite Pratt's own admissions of affiliation—claimed Pratt had no connection to Evangelical Christian core values.
"I know the church he currently goes to. Do you?"
"(The answer is you don’t, but you heard from someone who heard from someone who heard from someone where he goes to church, so decided, 'yeah, okay, I’ll believe this terrible thing I heard online about this celebrity!')"
He isn\u2019t. I know the church he currently goes to. Do you? (The answer is you don\u2019t, but you heard from someone who heard from someone who heard from someone where he goes to church, so decided, \u201cyeah, okay, I\u2019ll believe this terrible thing I heard online about this celebrity!\u201d)— James Gunn (@James Gunn) 1650905794
Fans of Pratt were pleased Gunn spoke out about their hero.
Kudos to James Gunn for standing by Chris Pratt! I\u2019m so sick of all the anti-Christianity sentiment and assumptions out there.— Rebecca Downs (@Rebecca Downs) 1651012413
There was a viral letter about ousting Chris Pratt from Marvel using prejudiced assumptions about his faith.\n\nJames Gunn- for all his faults- not only did not cave to the cancel pressure- but he defended Chris and absolutely laid into the letter writer. It\u2019s a refreshing read.https://twitter.com/huffpost/status/1519748448223903745\u00a0\u2026— THE Red-Headed libertarian\u2122 (@THE Red-Headed libertarian\u2122) 1651187675
These two \n\nShout out to @JamesGunn for sticking by and defending his people in a time where cancel culture reigns. An admirable trait more of us should practice Chris is blessed to have a friend like him. \n#ChrisPratt #JamesGunn #friendshiphttps://www.geeksandgamers.com/james-gunn-defends-chris-pratt\u00a0\u2026— \u2728Tuggs\u2728 (@\u2728Tuggs\u2728) 1650991723
Not everyone heaped praise on Gunn, however.
Others see irony in Gunn's position where other more vulnerable actors were missing his support during trying times.
Someone tweeted:
"It’s wild how desperate james gunn and crew are to defend chris pratt bc of some jokes on twitter, when they just sat by and and didn’t say anything when brie larson, zendaya, tessa thompson, etc. experienced actual harassment, racism, and sexism for their marvel roles."
It\u2019s wild how desperate james gunn and crew are to defend chris pratt bc of some jokes on twitter, when they just sat by and and didn\u2019t say anything when brie larson, zendaya, tessa thompson, etc. experienced actual harassment, racism, and sexism for their marvel roles— Michael \ud83c\udfb8 (@Michael \ud83c\udfb8) 1650921830
Another noted:
"Nothing against you or your pals, I just think it’s funny how y’all closed ranks around this one guy in particular when people a lot more vulnerable than him have received far worse treatment and y’all stayed dead silent."
"Good to see your guys’ priorities on here."
Pratt has not been replaced as the Star-Lord.
He will be appearing in the upcoming Taika Waititi directed Marvel film Thor: Love and Thunder which will be in theaters this July.