James Gunn: From Screenwriter to Co-CEO of DC Studios

Courtesy of AP

James Gunn is known for directing the Guardians of the Galaxy Trilogy and Superman (2025) as well as being co-chairman and co-CEO of DC Studios since late 2022. Where did Gunn start from, and what was the journey to getting one of the biggest jobs? James Gunn was born on August 5, 1966, in St. Louis, Missouri. From a young age, he was into writing and would make comedic zombie-themed movies with his brothers using an 8mm camera. Before he got into screenwriting, Gunn was in a band called ‘The Icons’ as a lead vocalist.

The 1996 movie Tromeo and Juliet was the first movie James Gunn co-wrote. He learned a lot from the experience and in 2000, wrote the superhero comedy movie The Specials. Two years later, Gunn wrote the screenplay to Scooby-Doo, a live-action movie based on the popular cartoon series Scooby-Doo. Despite initially receiving negative reviews, Scooby-Doo proved successful at the box office and later developed a cult following. The movie was known for making the unpopular character Scrappy-Doo the main villain, and Gunn himself stated he loathed the character. Two years later, Gunn wrote Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed and Zack Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead. Like the first Scooby-Doo, its sequel got negative reviews at first, but this time didn’t do well at the box office. Dawn of the Dead received positive reviews and is considered one of Zack Snyder’s best films, as well as one of the best horror remakes.

In 2006, Gunn’s first directed movie, Slither, was released in theaters to positive reviews but a poor showing at the box office. The movie starred actors like Nathan Fillion and Michael Rooker who would appear in more of Gunn’s work throughout the years. In 2010, his second movie, Super, came out, which was a superhero dark comedy. Out of Gunn’s directed movies, Super got the worst movies, which was mostly a mixed response. It didn’t help that a similar comedy superhero movie Kick-Ass that got better reviews came out the same year. This didn’t slow down James Gunn. In fact, a few years later, Gunn would take on his best movie yet.

James Gunn’s third movie was Guardians of the Galaxy, a Marvel Cinematic Universe movie taking place during Phase 2 starring Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillian, and Michael Rooker with Bradley Cooper and Vin Diesel providing the voices of Rocket and Groot. Gunn also co-wrote the screenplay. This was a huge gamble for Marvel Studios, as the Guardians of the Galaxy were not household names. The movie got great reviews and is still considered to this day one of the best MCU movies made. It was also successful, making $773.3 million worldwide, making it the third-highest-grossing movie of 2014, only behind Transformers: Age of Extinction and The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. This also made Guardians of the Galaxy the highest grossing comic book movie of 2014, beating the likes of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, and X-Men: Days of Future Past.

In 2017, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 came out and once again got positive reviews and did even better at the box office making $869 million worldwide. It was among the top ten highest grossing movies of 2017 and the second highest grossing superhero movie, only behind Spider-Man: Homecoming. Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy movies were praised for their humor, the performances of the actors, visuals, soundtrack, and emotional themes. Despite the snarky protagonists like Star Lord, Gamora, and Rocket Raccoon, the characters worked well together as a team and a group of misfits who found a family together. As great as things were, a year later, it looked like it was going to come to an end.

In July 2018, Disney fired James Gunn after old tweets that Gunn made that were controversial and deemed offensive came to light. This was in response to Gunn criticizing President Donald Trump at the time. Gunn apologized for the tweets and took full responsibility for them. The Guardians of the Galaxy cast came to his defense, writing a letter of support and hoping to work with him again, praising his character on and off the set. Dave Bautista, who played Drax, was vocal in defending Gunn and made it clear that he was unhappy the director got fired and Guardians of the Galaxy is not Guardians of the Galaxy without James Gunn. It looked like the end of James Gunn’s career, until a new opportunity came.

A few months after being fired by Disney, Warner Bros. hired James Gunn to write a new Suicide Squad movie. Warner Bros. hoped he would also direct Superman at the time, but opted for directing The Suicide Squad, a move praised by 2016’s Suicide Squad director David Ayer. Right after Gunn was tapped to direct The Suicide Squad, Disney chairman Alan Horn entered discussions with Gunn on the situation regarding his tweets, and in March 2019, Gunn was rehired to direct Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 with the cast returning. Between Gunn’s commitment to The Suicide Squad and COVID-19 delaying movies, including the MCU’s film schedule, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 was delayed to 2023.

Despite the COVID-19 Pandemic and movies getting delayed, The Suicide Squad finished filming before the shutdown happened in 2020 and was one of the few movies to not get delayed in the early 2020s. The Suicide Squad came out in August 2021 in both theaters and on HBO Max. It got great reviews, some of the best in the DCEU, which got a lot of mixed to negative reviews with some of it’s previous movies like Suicide Squad and Justice League. Gunn’s humor, action, and character development were praised. Unfortunately, the movie struggled at the box office. Gunn would then do a spinoff HBO Max series on one of the characters from the movie, named Peacemaker, starring John Cena as the title character. Peacemaker came out in 2022 and got great reviews.

Gunn would finally get back to work on Guardians of the Galaxy, making both The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Both were well received, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is considered one of the best post-Avengers: Endgame MCU movies. It made over $845.3 million worldwide, easily beating out all the comic book movies of 2023, and was the fourth-highest-grossing movie of 2023. Like the previous Guardians of the Galaxy movies, the movie was praised for its cast, action, emotional moments, soundtrack, and visuals. Gunn’s work with Marvel was finally done, but his work with DC was just beginning.

In October 2022, right after Black Adam came out, it was announced that James Gunn and Peter Safran would be CEOs of DC Studios. For years, DC films have been a roller-coaster. The DCEU started rocky with it’s second movie, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, failing to live up to the hype and the drama surrounding the 2017 movie Justice League which ultimately led to the movie doing poorly and being bad. Black Adam not delivering was the final nail in the coffin. As CEO, Gunn decided to finally end the DCEU and announce the DCU. In 2023, he announced a slate of DC movies and shows, including Creature Commandos, Superman, Lanterns, and other future projects. Gunn would then confirm he will write and direct Superman, casting David Corenswet and Rachel Brosnahan as Superman/Clark Kent and Lois Lane.

James Gunn is open on Twitter, announcing if projects will happen, what is being added, and the progress of a project. Gunn also debunks rumors from scoopers that are not true, being transparent. Creature Commandos, Superman, and Peacemaker Season 2 have started the new DCU, all 3 directed by James Gunn, and have gotten positive reviews. Superman made over $600 million, and as of right now, it’s the highest-grossing superhero movie of 2025. Assuming it stays that way, 2025 will be the first year since 2008 where a DC superhero movie beat all the Marvel movies at the box office. Superman was praised for its performances and bringing fun back to the Man of Steel, as well as delivering on humor and emotion.

James Gunn won’t be directing every DC project, but he’s still involved in them. He will likely direct other projects, but it’s unknown at this time. Gunn is prioritizing getting Batman and Wonder Woman into the DCU. He’s also already working on the next Superman movie. Fans seem excited for the future of DC movies with Gunn rebuilding trust and better quality. The road to becoming co-chairman and co-CEO of DC Studios was an interesting and bumpy one, but Gunn has already established himself as one of the best comic book movie directors of all time, up there with the likes of Christopher Nolan, the Russo Brothers, Sam Raimi, and a few others. He has a record of consistency in the quality of his Marvel and DC projects. He’s come a long way from writing live-action Scooby-Doo movies.

What are your thoughts on James Gunn? What is your favorite James Gunn movie? Let us know in the comments below.