James Gunn

James Francis Gunn Jr. (born August 5, 1966) is an American filmmaker. He began his career as a screenwriter in the mid-1990s, starting at Troma Entertainment with Tromeo and Juliet. He then began working as a director, starting with the horror-comedy film Slither (2006), and moving to the superhero genre with Super (2010), Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017), The Suicide Squad (2021), and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023).

In 2022, Warner Bros. Discovery hired Gunn and his longtime producer Peter Safran to become co-chairmen and co-CEOs of DC Studios. Under DC Studios, Gunn co-produced and executive produced every film and television series under the DC Universe (DCU) media franchise alongside Safran, which acts as a soft-reboot of the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). In the DCU, he is the creator of the series Creature Commandos (2024–present) and the writer-director of the film Superman (2025).

He also wrote and directed the web series James Gunn's PG Porn (2008–2009), the HBO Max original series Peacemaker (2022–2025) and the Disney+ original special The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2022). Other work for which he is known include writing for the 2004 remake of George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead (1978), writing the live-action adaptation of Scooby-Doo (2002), and its sequel Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (2004), writing and producing the horror-action film The Belko Experiment (2016), producing the superhero-horror film Brightburn (2019), and contributing to comedy-anthology film Movie 43 (2013) (directing the segment "Beezel") and the 2012 hack-and-slash video game Lollipop Chainsaw.

Early life James Francis Gunn Jr. was born on August 5, 1966 (While some sources give a birth year of 1970, Gunn graduated from St.) Louis University High School in 1984, He was raised Catholic in the St. Louis suburb of Manchester, Missouri. He has five siblings — actor Sean, actor and political writer Matt, screenwriter Brian, Patrick, and Beth. Gunn is of Irish descent, his father coming from an Irish immigrant family. Gunn has stated that his family's surname was originally the Irish name MacGilgunn and that it means "sons to the servants of the god of the dead"; it actually means "son of the brown youth."

Growing up, Gunn was influenced by low-budget films such as Night of the Living Dead and Friday the 13th. He read magazines like Fangoria and attended genre movie screenings, including the original Dawn of the Dead at the Tivoli Theatre in St. Louis. At the age of 12, he began making 8 mm zombie films with his brothers in the woods near their home.

Gunn and his brothers all attended the Jesuit St. Louis University High School, where he graduated in 1984. While at Saint Louis University, Gunn created political cartoons for the school's student weekly, The University News. Gunn said that, at an unspecified time in his college education, "I went to two years undergraduate film school at Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles. But I was pretty screwed up at the time, and had to leave. Years later I went to graduate school at the Columbia University School of Fine Arts but I studied prose writing, not film writing." He earned a Master of Fine Arts from Columbia University in 1995.

Career Music While living in St. Louis, Gunn founded a band, The Icons, in 1989, serving as lead vocalist. The group released the album Mom, We Like It Here on Earth in 1994, and its songs "Sunday" and "Walking Naked" were featured in the film Tromeo and Juliet. The Icons disbanded in the mid-1990s. Gunn has continued to work in music, composing songs for Scooby-Doo, Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, and Movie 43.

Film and television

Gunn began his career in filmmaking with Troma Entertainment in 1996, for which he co-wrote the independent film Tromeo and Juliet. Working alongside his mentor Lloyd Kaufman, the co-founder of Troma, Gunn learned how to write screenplays, produce films, scout locations, direct actors, distribute films, and create his own poster art. That same year, he executive produced and starred in the mockumentary LolliLove, directed by and starring his then-wife Jenna Fischer. His film directorial debut was the 2006 horror-comedy Slither, which was included on Rotten Tomatoes' list of the 50 Best Ever Reviewed Horror Movies.

Gunn's next projects included the comedy short film "Humanzee!" which was originally intended exclusively for the Xbox Live's Horror Meets Comedy series of short comedy films by horror directors, it was replaced with "Sparky and Mikaela" which debuted on Xbox Live on December 31, 2008. In an April 2009 interview on The Jace Hall Show, Gunn described "Sparky and Mikaela" as being "about a human [and] racoon crime fighting team and they fight crime in both the forest world, among the furry animals, and in the human world". Gunn also has a short-form web series for Spike.com titled James Gunn's PG Porn.

In 2008, Gunn was a judge on the VH1 reality television show Scream Queens, where 10 unknown actresses compete for a role in the film Saw VI.

In 2009, Gunn announced he was going to write and direct Pets, a comedy about a man who is abducted by aliens who want to turn him into a household pet, with Ben Stiller, Stuart Cornfeld and Jeremy Kramer producing. However, by March 2009, Gunn announced, "Pets unfortunately, is done. I'm gone. I left the project for various reasons. I hope it sees the light of day somehow, but it won't be with me attached as director."

In 2010, Gunn released Super, a dark comedy and superhero satire starring Rainn Wilson and Elliot Page. He also directed a segment of the 2013 comedy anthology film Movie 43 (2013); the segment starred Elizabeth Banks and Josh Duhamel. The film was critically panned.

Gunn co-wrote and directed the Marvel Studios adaptation of Guardians of the Galaxy, which was released on August 1, 2014. His brother, Sean, has a role in the film. Gunn has appeared as an actor, mostly in smaller roles or uncredited appearances in his own projects. After Dan Gilroy and Jack Black separately lamented the proliferation of superhero films, Gunn responded in a Facebook post, saying in part:

Gunn wrote and produced the horror film The Belko Experiment, which was released in 2017. In 2016, he directed three Stan Lee cameo scenes in one day, for the film Doctor Strange and two unrevealed projects.

Gunn wrote and directed Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017). Gunn was slated to direct Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 in July 2018, but before the project started, Disney severed ties with Gunn as the director amid controversy over off-color jokes he had tweeted. Gunn was rehired in March 2019 after a mass public appeal, many saying he was the reason of the previous movies' successes. In January 2019, he was officially confirmed to direct The Suicide Squad. He also wrote, directed, and produced the HBO Max spin-off show Peacemaker centered on The Suicide Squad character Peacemaker played by John Cena. Gunn also co-wrote and co-produced a live-action/animated film titled Coyote vs. Acme, based on the Looney Tunes character Wile E. Coyote, for Warner Animation Group.

Other media Gunn wrote a novel in 2000, The Toy Collector, a story of a hospital orderly who steals drugs from the hospital which he sells to help keep his toy collection habit alive. In 1998, he and Troma's President Lloyd Kaufman co-wrote All I Need to Know About Filmmaking I Learned from The Toxic Avenger, about his experiences with Kaufman while working at Troma.

He wrote the story for Grasshopper Manufacture's video game Lollipop Chainsaw, working with game designer Suda 51.

Firing from Disney and reinstatement

In July 2018, amidst criticism of Gunn's past controversial jokes posted on social media between 2008 and 2012—topics included child sexual abuse, rape, and the Holocaust—Disney severed its ties with him as the director of the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 film.

Walt Disney Studios's decision received criticism from many entertainers and journalists, including actors Dave Bautista, Selma Blair, Patton Oswalt, David Dastmalchian, Michael Ian Black, Mikaela Hoover, Mike Colter, Alex Winter, David Hasselhoff, directors Joe Carnahan and Fede Álvarez, comics artist Jim Starlin, musician Rhett Miller, comedian Jim Jefferies, journalist David A. French, and Troma Entertainment founder Lloyd Kaufman. Bobcat Goldthwait asked Disney to remove his voice from an upcoming park attraction based on their film Hercules.

A number of media outlets criticized Disney's decision, including Collider, Cartoon Brew, The Daily Dot, The Independent, National Review, MovieWeb, and Vulture. An online petition urging Disney to re-hire Gunn received over 400,000 signatures. On July 30, Guardians of the Galaxy cast members Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldaña, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Sean Gunn, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, and Michael Rooker released a joint statement expressing their support for Gunn, emphasizing that he had disavowed and apologized for the jokes years previously.

Because of the situation, Sony Pictures did not promote the horror film Brightburn, which Gunn had produced, at the 2018 San Diego Comic-Con, which took place in the days after Gunn's dismissal. However, when the first trailer for the film was released on December 8, Gunn's name was prominently featured, and the film opened in May 2019.

In March 2019, Gunn was reinstated by Disney as director of the film after meeting with Alan Horn, chairman of Walt Disney Studios. Gunn started production on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 in October 2021, after The Suicide Squad had been completed.

DC Studios

Gunn and frequent producing partner Peter Safran had advised David Zaslav, the CEO of the newly created Warner Bros. Discovery, during his search for a new head of DC Films. The duo impressed Zaslav, who decided to appoint them as the co-chairpersons and CEOs of DC Films, rebranded as "DC Studios". The two were given control over films, animation and television projects based on characters from DC Comics. Gunn was to oversee the creative aspects and will be exclusive to Warner Bros. Discovery during his tenure, except for his prior commitments to Disney. The two first worked together on the 2000 superhero comedy film The Specials written by Gunn with Safran as co-executive producer, with subsequent collaborations including Gunn's 2008 short films Sparky & Mikaela and Humanzee!, the television series James Gunn's PG Porn (2008–2009), The Belko Experiment (2016) and the DCEU film The Suicide Squad (2021). The two assumed their positions on November 1, 2022.

In December 2022, Gunn announced that he was writing a film about a young Superman during his early years in Metropolis, later revealed to be titled Superman and released in July 2025; in March 2023 it was confirmed Gunn would also direct the project. In January 2023, Gunn and Safran revealed their plans for future DCU films, with the first chapter being titled "Gods and Monsters". Gunn also wrote a seven-episode animated series titled Creature Commandos, based on the comic book team of the same name, and released ahead of Superman in December 2024, and also worked on the HBO Max series Waller, a spin-off of Peacemaker focusing on the character of Amanda Waller, with Christal Henry writing and Viola Davis reprising her role from previous DCEU projects. Gunn is also involved in multiple other DC projects, including producing Supergirl released on June 26, 2026.

Following the success of Superman, Gunn announced a follow-up film in September 2025, titled Man of Tomorrow, using new artwork from Jim Lee. The film is set to be released in 2027, with David Corenswet and Nicholas Hoult expected to reprise their roles. The second season of Peacemaker was also produced by the Gunn and Safran-led DC Studios. Most of the first season is canon to the DCU, but only the second season, written in 2023 and aired in August–October 2025, is part of the Gods and Monsters chapter.

Political views In December 2017, Gunn publicly shifted from his previous apolitical stance on social media to openly criticize the Donald Trump administration. In one of his tweets, he described the situation as a "national crisis" and compared the president's approach to facts and journalism to the tactics employed by Adolf Hitler and Vladimir Putin. In July 2018, in response to Gunn's public criticism of President Donald Trump, right-wing commentator Mike Cernovich highlighted some of Gunn's past controversial tweets.

Some critics have interpreted the film Superman (2025) as an allegory for the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, particularly referencing the 2018–2019 Gaza border protests and the 2023 Gaza war. However, James Gunn stated that the script was written prior to the outbreak of the war and was not intended as an allegory. Filming began on February 29, 2024.

Personal life Gunn married actress Jenna Fischer on October 7, 2000. divorcing in 2008. The two remained friends. In 2010, Fischer persuaded Gunn to cast Rainn Wilson, her co-star on The Office, in Gunn's film Super. In February 2022, Holland and Gunn became engaged, and were married at the end of September 2022.

He has a dog named Ozu, adopted from a shelter in 2022. Gunn has regularly shared photos of the dog and promoted the hashtag #AdoptDontShop. For that reason as well as his CGI work on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, PETA declared Gunn to be their 2023 Person of the Year. Ozu served as the inspiration for the redesigned, CGI-animated Krypto the Superdog in Gunn's 2025 adaptation of Superman.

Gunn was raised in a Catholic family and has mentioned how prayer continues to play an important role in his life, but has also said that he is, "in some ways, anti-religion".

Filmography Film Year Title Director Writer Producer Notes 1996 Tromeo and Juliet Co-written with Lloyd KaufmanExecutive in charge of production 2000 The Specials 2002 Scooby-Doo Story co-written with Craig Titley 2004 Dawn of the Dead Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed 2006 Slither 2010 Super 2014 Guardians of the Galaxy Co-written with Nicole Perlman 2016 The Belko Experiment 2017 Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 2021 The Suicide Squad 2023 Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 2025 Superman 2026 Coyote vs. Acme 2027 Post-production

Producer only Year Title Director 2019 Brightburn David Yarovesky 2026 Supergirl Craig Gillespie James Watkins 2028 Matt Reeves

Executive producer Year Title Notes 2004 LolliLove Also uncredited writer 2018 Avengers: Infinity War Also wrote additional dialogue 2019 Avengers: Endgame

Other roles Year Title Role 1999 Terror Firmer Uncredited writer 2013 Thor: The Dark World Second unit Director: mid-credit sequence 2016 Doctor Strange Uncredited director: Stan Lee's cameo scene 2017 Spider-Man: Homecoming Thor: Ragnarok

Short films Year Title Director Writer Producer Notes 1997 Hamster PSA 2004 Tube 2008 Sparky & Mikaela Web short Humanzee! 2013 Beezel Segment of Movie 43

Acting roles Year Title Role Notes 1996 Tromeo and Juliet "Found a peanut" father 2000 The Specials Minute Man Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV Doctor Flem Hocking 2003 Doggie Tails, Vol. 1: Lucky's First Sleep-Over Riley Direct-to-video The Ghouls Detective Cotton Melvin Goes to Dinner Scott 2004 LolliLove James 2006 Slither Hank Uncredited 2008 Humanzee! James Web short 2010 Super Demonswill 2014 Guardians of the Galaxy Maskless Sakaaran, Baby Groot Also CGI actor in end-credits scene 2017 Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Baby Groot 2023 Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 Lambshank Voice cameo

Television Year Title Director Writer Executive Producer Creator Notes 1997–2000 The Tromaville Café 2008–2009 James Gunn's PG Porn Web series 2022–2025 Peacemaker Directed 8 episodes 2022–2023 I Am Groot Shorts seriesSpecial thanksSeason 22022 The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special Television special 2024 Beast Boy: Lone Wolf Shorts series DC Metal Force Web series 2024–present Creature Commandos 2026 My Adventures with Superman Season 3Lanterns

Acting roles Year Title Role 1997 Sgt. Kabukiman Public Service Announcement Insane Masturbator 1997–2000 The Tromaville Café Mike the Crazy Boom Guy 2008 Scream Queens Himself 2008–2009 James Gunn's PG Porn Various roles 2013 Holliston John Anguish 2015 Con Man Raaker 2.0 2022 Harley Quinn Himself (voice) I Am Groot Wrist Watch (voice) 2025 Rick and Morty Himself (voice)

Video games Year Title Role 2012 Lollipop Chainsaw Writer 2013 LocoCycle Actor: Big Arms Chairman

Theme parks Year Title Director Writer Show scenes 2017 Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: Breakout! 2022 Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind

Frequent collaborators Gunn is known for his recurring collaborations with certain actors. + The Tromaville Café (1997–2000) Slither (2006) James Gunn's PG Porn (2008–2009) Super (2010) Movie 43 (2013) Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) The Suicide Squad (2021) Peacemaker (2022–2025) The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2022) Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023) Creature Commandos (2024–present) Superman (2025) Man of Tomorrow (2027) Total projects Chris Pratt 4 Zoe Saldaña 3 Dave Bautista 4 Vin Diesel 4 Bradley Cooper 5 Michael Rooker 10 Karen Gillan 4 John Cena 3 Nathan Fillion 9 Gregg Henry 6 Lloyd Kaufman 6 Rob Zombie 3 Sean Gunn 10 Stephen Blackehart 11 Linda Cardellini 3 Mikaela Hoover 6 Steve Agee 5 Seth Green 3 Pom Klementieff 5 Sylvester Stallone 3 Jennifer Holland 4 Michael Rosenbaum 4 Viola Davis 3 Frank Grillo 4 Maria Bakalova 3 Alan Tudyk 3 Nicholas Hoult 3 Isabela Merced 3

Unrealized projects 1990s Gilligan's Island: In the late 1990s, Gunn and Charlie Kaufman attempted to make a film adaptation of the 1960s television series Gilligan's Island, but as a cannibal film. Although the project was supported by Warner Bros., the film was never made because Sherwood Schwartz, who created the show, disapproved. Silver Surfer: In 1999, an executive from 20th Century Fox offered to hire Gunn to write and direct a film about the Marvel Comics superhero Silver Surfer. Spy vs. Spy: Also in 1999, Gunn wrote an unproduced screenplay adaptation of Spy vs. Spy. According to Gunn, Jay Roach was to have directed and Nicolas Cage and Eddie Murphy were to have starred.

2000s Plastic Man: While much is not known about this project or how far it got, Gunn pitched a basic idea back in the early 2000s where Matthew Lillard would have starred as the titular, wise cracking hero. The Newlyweds: In a 2002 interview with IGN, Gunn revealed that one of his next projects was a script called The Newlyweds for Warner Bros., which ultimately was not produced. Pure stage musical: Gunn also revealed that he and Tromeo and Juliet composer Willie Wisely were working on a stage musical called Pure. Gunn described said project as "a love story revolving around a guy who kills and tortures people because he thinks it helps him write and draw better children's books." Creature from the Black Lagoon remake: In 2004, Gunn pitched to Universal Pictures his screenplay that was intended to be a remake of the 1954 film Creature from the Black Lagoon, but the studio turned down the pitch. Pets: In 2007, it was reported that Gunn was to write and direct a comedy film for New Regency titled Pets, with Ben Stiller serving as one of the producers. Gunn left the project due to creative differences. The Belko Experiment:

2010s Thunderbolts: It's Alive remake: Larry Cohen said in a 2017 interview that Gunn had approached him for permission to make a remake of his 1974 film It's Alive. According to Cohen, Gunn "couldn't raise enough money to buy the rights. I'm sorry today I didn't give them to him." Starsky & Hutch TV continuation: On August 31, 2017, Gunn was set to direct and co-write a dramatic continuation of Starsky & Hutch with his brother Brian & cousin Mark Gunn as co-writers for Prime Video. On July 24, 2018, an Amazon Studios spokesperson revealed on Yahoo! Finance that the series was cancelled months before Gunn was fired from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Ravagers TV spinoff: In August 2017, Gunn said that he was in talks with Marvel Studios to make a Ravagers spinoff series. Untitled Drax and Mantis spinoff film: In September 2017, Gunn said he would continue to work with Marvel Studios on projects that use the Guardians of the Galaxy. In 2021, actor Dave Bautista revealed that a film that Gunn "really wanted to do [was] a Drax and Mantis film". However, no follow-up was heard from the studio, so the idea was likely scrapped. These characters did get to later be featured in The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special. Untitled Batman film: During pre-production of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Warner Bros. approached Gunn to make a Batman film for the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). However, Gunn turned down the chance due to his focus on the third Guardians of the Galaxy film. After he was briefly fired from the project in 2018, Warner would offer him a Superman film (which according to him, if they had come up to him then with directing Batman, he would have said affirmatively), but Gunn ended up choosing to do a Suicide Squad film, which ended up becoming The Suicide Squad. Once president of DC Studios and one of the architects of the DC Universe (DCU), Gunn will produce the Batman films The Batman: Part II (2027) and The Brave and the Bold.

2020s The Suicide Squad sequel: In 2021, Gunn stated that he had ideas for a potential sequel to his film The Suicide Squad. In 2022, Gunn said there had been discussions about a sequel and he was considering it for his next feature film but his focus was on television for the foreseeable future following his positive experience making Peacemaker. The following June, Gunn said there would not be a sequel.

Awards and nominations + Year Award Category Recipient(s) and nominee(s) Result 2005 Bram Stoker Award Best Screenplay Dawn of the Dead 2006 Chainsaw Award Highest Body Count Slither 2007 Saturn Awards The Filmmakers Showcase Award 2014 Golden Raspberry Award Worst Screenplay (shared with co-writers) Movie 43 Worst Director (shared with co-directors) 2015 Critics' Choice Awards Best Action Film Guardians of the Galaxy Grammy Awards Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Mix Vol. 1 Hollywood Film Awards Blockbuster of the Year Guardians of the Galaxy Hugo Awards Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form Nebula Awards Ray Bradbury Nebula Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation Saturn Awards Best Comic-to-Film Motion Picture Best Director Best Writing Writers Guild of America Awards Best Adapted Screenplay (shared with Nicole Perlman) 2018 Grammy Awards Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2: Awesome Mix Vol. 2 Saturn Awards Best Comic-to-Film Motion Picture Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 2022 Hollywood Critics Association TV Awards Best Writing in a Streaming Series, Comedy Peacemaker Georgia Film Critics Association Awards Oglethorpe Award for Excellence in Georgia Cinema The Suicide Squad Hollywood Critics Association Best Action Film Critics' Choice Super Awards Best Superhero Movie Saturn Awards Best Superhero Film 2023 Children's and Family Emmy Awards Outstanding Fiction Special The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special Outstanding Directing for a Single Camera Program Outstanding Short Form Program I Am Groot 2024 Georgia Film Critics Association Awards Oglethorpe Award for Excellence in Georgia Cinema Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 Saturn Awards Best Superhero Film Best Director