James Gunn defends Chris Pratt following call to replace him in Guardians of the Galaxy

James Gunn has defended his Guardians of the Galaxy star Chris Pratt following the suggestion that he should be replaced in the franchise.

The Guardians of the Galaxy director responded to a Twitter user who suggested Patrick Wilson should replace Pratt as Star-Lord, the lead character of the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise.

Gunn insisted that he will never replace Pratt in the role and the public opinion of the actor has been formed by "utterly-false" beliefs.

"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," he wrote.

The Jurassic World star has come under fire in recent years due to his rumoured involvement with the Hillsong Church, which has been accused of being anti-LGBTQ+.

Another Twitter user then asked Gunn if he was "cool" with Pratt being part of such an establishment and the filmmaker insisted that nobody knows what church Pratt currently attends.

"He isn’t. I know the church he currently goes to," he replied. "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 actor previously denied going to a church with anti-LGBTQ+ views in 2019, insisting his place of worship "opens their doors to absolutely everyone".

Pratt and Gunn are currently working on The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, which will be released on Disney+ in December, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which is slated to hit cinemas in May 2023.