James Gunn won’t recast Chris Pratt as Star-Lord despite social media comments
By Mark Lynch
James Gunn won’t recast Chris Pratt as Marvel Studios’ Star-Lord despite fan backlash on social media.
Chris Pratt’s Peter Quill, a.k.a. Star-Lord, is among the best adaptations of a comic book character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He helped the heroes of Guardians of the Galaxy evolve from a much lesser-known superhero team to leaders of a major movie franchise.
Over the years, however, Pratt has come under fire for being associated with a church that is known for being anti-LGBTQ+. As a result of this, there have been some online calls for Star-Lord to be recast in the MCU.
To that, James Gunn has said he will not replace Chris Pratt as Star-Lord.
James Gunn says no to replacing Chris Pratt
On Twitter, a fan tweeted, “Marvel. Hear me out. Just… replace him.” James Gunn wouldn’t even entertain the thought responding to the tweet:
"“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.”"
As reported by The Direct, Chris Pratt has been called out in recent years due to reportedly being a member of a church promotes anti-LGBTQ+ views. Elliot Page called out Pratt back in 2019, saying that the church is, “infamously anti-LGBTQ.” Pratt has continuously denied those claims saying, “Nothing could be further from the truth,” he wrote. “I go to a church that opens their doors to absolutely everyone.”
When another fan questioned Gunn’s stance given the belief of Pratt’s church having homophobic views, the Guardians of the Galaxy director responded:
"“He isn’t. 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!’)”"
In December of 2020, Insider wrote a piece about anti-LGBTQ behavior and racism at Hillsong Church. This is the church that many thought Pratt to be associated with, but reports have since denied that. However, as The Direct notes, Pratt’s church, Zoe Church, may have had ties to Hillsong.
Everyone deserves love and acceptance. According to Chris Pratt’s statement, he truly believes that his church is all about love. Hopefully, this is the case. Needless to say, Gunn wouldn’t have been open with fans about his support of Pratt if he didn’t believe what he was saying.
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