Michael Rooker, who played Yondu in the first two Guardians of the Galaxy movies, calls Disney's decision to fire James Gunn after his almost decade-old offensive tweets resurfaced "terrible." The unexpected turn of events put Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3's production on indefinite hold; meanwhile, Gunn has moved on to a brand-new superhero movie project in the form of DC's Suicide Squad 2, just two months after being fired.

After Gunn's firing was announced, the principal Guardians of the Galaxy cast released a statement in support of the filmmaker and asked Disney to reinstate him as director on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 costars Kurt Russell, David Hasselhoff, and Michelle Yeoh have separately made it known that they also stand in solidarity with the director. Rooker, who collaborated with Gunn several times before they worked together on the Guardians films, has now shared similar sentiments about the situation.

Related: All The Damage Firing James Gunn Has Had For Marvel

During his appearance at Walker Stalker in Atlanta (via Comicbook), Rooker shared his thoughts about the unfortunate fate of his good friend and frequent collaborator. While the actor isn't as frank as Dave Bautista when asked about the matter, he admits that Disney's decision to let Gunn go was a bad one:

"It's terrible, isn't it? Yeah, but oh well, guess what? He's on a gig already. Suicide Squad, that's right. He's writing it and directing it as well."

James Gunn and Suicide Squad Script Background

This is the first time Rooker has really spoken about the incident offline and it seems like he's kept in touch with Gunn throughout the whole debacle, given that he's well aware of the director's involvement with DC's Suicide Squad sequel. Shortly after word got out that Gunn was in talks to write the villain-centric film, DC officially confirmed the news. However, the company has yet to formally announce that Gunn will be directing the project in addition to writing it, so it's possible that Rooker was speaking in general terms and indicating that, as far as he knows, Gunn intends to helm Suicide Squad 2 himself.

Given Gunn's habits of casting his closest friends in whatever project he's working on, there's a real chance that Rooker will play a role in Suicide Squad 2. Bautista and Michael Rosenbaum have both expressed their interest in following Gunn over to DC, but that would be difficult for the former, seeing as Bautista is still expected to appear in both Avengers 4 and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. However, given that Rooker's Yondu died in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and isn't expected to return to the MCU, that improves his own chances of landing a role in Gunn's upcoming DC film.

More: Casting James Gunn's Suicide Squad 2

Source: Comicbook

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