Fans Stand With James Gunn Over Nepotism Accusations
The director makes some pretty good arguments in defense of his choices, and most fans seem to be on his side.
With the release of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, the final installment of James Gunn 's adventures of the MCU 's most beloved team of misfits, the old controversy surrounding the director has resurfaced.
The point seems to be that Gunn frequently casts his family members in his projects, more specifically his wife, Jennifer Holland, and brother, Sean Gunn, which some more zealous fans see as a problem and accuse the director of nepotism.
The controversy began some time ago, but was reignited with the release of the third Guardians film, which features both Sean and Jennifer.
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Sean portrays Kraglin Obfonteri and the young version of Rocket, in addition to providing the motion capture for the adult Rocket, while Jennifer Holland plays Kwol and the administrator of Orgocorp.
Both have previously appeared (though not always at the same time) in other James projects such as The Suicide Squad (2021), Brightburn and the Peacemaker TV series.
In defense of his casting choices, James has repeatedly stated that both are established actors and that it is more comfortable for him as a director to work with people he knows personally and has a good working relationship with.
"Steve Agee [...] is a friend of mine, of course, but he's also the funniest guy I know. Chris Pratt is one of my best friends," the director said.
Most of the fans seem to support the director's decisions, because even if it can be considered as nepotism, it benefited his projects in the end, because the casting choices were perfect.
The characters ended up being great, and they were not the main characters to begin with, so the accusations seem rather ridiculous, they say.
The fans also make a good point that this happens all the time in Hollywood, but for some reason the general public rarely pays attention to it.
To be fair, Gunn has already established himself as a great director, so it is entirely up to him to decide who to cast in his movies.
Besides, his "established relationships" approach has already paid off handsomely, as most of the Guardians of the Galaxy cast came to the director's defense when he was fired by Disney in 2018, and played an integral role in getting him reinstated to his position.
Sources: The Direct, Reddit