Avengers Infinity War: Drax star Dave Bautista SLAMS 'nauseating' Disney over James Gunn

Bautista joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies, the first two of which went down a storm with fans – and the third of which is due in the near future.

Gunn directed both of the first two and was booked to helm the third, but was fired last month after offensive jokes he posted on Twitter several years ago were resurfaced by hardline Conservative pundits, ostensibly wanting to settle a score following Disney’s firing of Roseanne Barr.

Multiple Guardians actors – including leads Chris Pratt and Zoe Saldana – have spoken out demanding Disney re-hire Gunn, and hundreds of thousands of fans have also signed a petition; although it seems increasingly unlikely that the corporation will perform a U-turn.

Bautista has consistently been among the most vocally upset about the situation, and said in a new tweet that he finds the prospect of shooting the next Guardians movie “pretty nauseating”.

He tweeted: “I will do what Im legally obligated to do but @Guardians without @JamesGunn is not what I signed up for.

“GOTG w/o @JamesGunn just isn’t GOTG.”

He added: “It’s also pretty nauseating to work for someone who’d empower a smear campaign by fascists #cybernazis. That’s just how I feel.”

At time of writing, his tweet has had upwards of 6,000 Retweets and 27,000 Likes since being posted shortly after midnight (UK time) today.

Kurt Russell, who appeared in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2, has also recently spoken out in Gunn’s favour.

“It’s sad. But it’s

“But I do think we’re getting a little too sensitive on maybe some of the wrong people.

“You have to realise that when you are in that world as a comedian, a writer, whatever, you’re always stretching the boundaries and trying to find something which lead him to something that the world loves, which is Guardians of the Galaxy.

“He has a wonderful heart and a wonderful mind. I hope he is forgiven.”

Gunn himself has apologised for the jokes, which centred on paedophilia and rape.