Given how Chris Pratt is set to voice what feels like every animated character in a slew of upcoming franchises, job security likely isn’t top of mind.
But he at least has confirmation that “Guardians of the Galaxy” director James Gunn has his back, with the filmmaker coming to the actor’s defense on Twitter Monday amid calls to ax him from future Marvel films.
Responding to a viral tweet calling for Marvel to replace the actor with Patrick Wilson, Gunn said he would “never” oust Pratt, who is set to reunite with the director in a third “Guardians” film next year.
“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?” Gunn wrote. “Chris Pratt would never be replaced as Star-Lord but, if he ever was, we would all be going with him.”
Pratt has fielded plenty of backlash in recent years over his rumored political affiliation ― he sparked controversy ahead of the 2020 presidential election for mocking the importance of voting. However, the actor has largely stayed out of the political fray, having previously said that he doesn’t feel represented by Democrats or Republicans.
He’s also come under fire for his past connections to churches that have a history of discriminating against the LGBTQ community.
Back in 2019, Elliot Page publicly called Pratt out for attending an “infamously” anti-LGBTQ church, which prompted Pratt to make a rare statement about his beliefs.
“It has recently been suggested that I belong to a church which ‘hates a certain group of people’ and is ‘infamously anti-LGBTQ,’” Pratt posted on social media at the time. “Nothing could be further from the truth. I go to a church that opens their doors to absolutely everyone.”
Responding in a follow-up tweet on Monday, Gunn seemed to echo that same sentiment.
“I know the church he currently goes to,” the director wrote. “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!’).”
The people in Pratt’s orbit have made a habit out of defending him in recent years.
The actor’s wife, Katherine Schwarzenegger, previously called out the “meanness and bullying” of an Instagram post that ranked Pratt as the least popular Hollywood Chris ― a common internet competition that pits Chris Hemsworth, Chris Pine and Chris Evans and Pratt against each other.
A handful of Marvel stars, including Robert Downey Jr., Mark Ruffalo, Zoe Saldaña and Jeremy Renner also voiced their support for Pratt in strongly worded public statements.
With Gunn, Pratt has at least returned the favor after the director was booted from the “Guardians” franchise over past offensive tweets that were resurfaced by far-right figures in retaliation for his opposition to Donald Trump.
The actor along with the rest of the “Guardians” cast pleaded for Gunn to be reinstated as director for the upcoming third entry in the franchise at the time in an open letter.
Marvel has since given Gunn a second chance, as he’s set to direct “Guardians of the Galaxy 3” along with a holiday special about the ragtag group of heroes set to be released in the coming years.
Pratt, meanwhile, will next appear as Star-Lord in the studio’s upcoming “Thor: Love and Thunder,” which will hit theaters in July.
