- James Gunn opens up on his Disney firing
and the future of the Guardians of the Galaxy.
For all of its fun, the Marvel Cinematic Universe
is still rife with heartbreak.
You've got Phil Coulson's death in the first Avengers,
Peter Parker's teary-eyed turn to dust in Infinity War,
and of course, all the stuff that may or may not
have happened in Endgame.
- I like this one. - We know it's been
three weeks, but we're still keeping the spoiler ban
in effect for all of you still waiting to see it.
However, the one moment that truly broke the hearts
of Marvel fans everywhere didn't actually take place
on screen, it happened behind the scenes last summer
when James Gunn, writer-director
of the Guardians of the Galaxy Volumes 1 and 2
was fired from the third film in the franchise.
Now, it's of course important to note
that Gunn's firing came after some decade old tweets of his
resurfaced and said tweets were pretty reprehensible,
but also important is the fact that Gunn had long ago
expressed remorse for what he had said
and offered genuine apologies to the groups
and people that he had used as the targets
of his so-called jokes, so when Disney got wind
of the potential controversy, they decided to split ties
with the director, leaving a lot of fans
and the film's stars mourning the loss of the man
that many considered to be the creative heart and soul
of the Guardians.
But time wore on, and Gunn's career quickly recovered.
He scored a cool new gig taking the reigns
on Suicide Squad 2 over at the distinguished competition
and then in March after almost a year
of Disney dragging its heels on hiring a new director
for Guardians 3, they decided to reinstate Gunn,
meaning the final outcome of this whole ordeal
is the director is now helming
two major superhero franchises, not just one.
Still, Gunn has remained mum about all of this
until this week when he gave an exclusive interview
to Deadline, talking about his initial reaction
to the firing, how the process helped him grow
and mature as a person and a creator,
and the storyline he's most excited to revisit
now that he's back with the Guardians.
The whole interview is definitely worth a read,
but some of the more interesting parts
involve how the firing forced Gunn to re-evaluate
how he valued himself as a person.
Gunn explains that a lot of self-worth
came from the love that he got for his work
and the idea that it might all be stripped away
was truly scary, but, "Then came this outpouring
"of real love from my girlfriend, my producer,
"my agents, Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana,
"and of course, Dave Bautista, who came out so strong."
Gunn said that in order for him to feel all of that,
he kind of needed to have the movie taken away from him.
Gunn added that he had to not only let go of any anger
or animosity he had for the people who fired him,
but also any anger or animosity he was holding
against himself, doing so is what allowed him to press on.
"What I needed to do was stop making my career
"be what makes me worthwhile and start making me
"just be okay as myself.
"That is what I concentrated on.
"I concentrated on the fun," and once he figured that out,
he was truly able to move forward
with his life and his work.
"The Suicide Squad, it just instantly started flowing,"
Gunn said of the DC script.
"I don't think I've had as much fun writing
"since maybe Dawn of the Dead," a project he worked on
all the way back in the early 2000's.
Ultimately though, when asked how it felt
to be invited back to the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
by Disney head, Alan Horn, Gunn said,
"I was about to sit down and talk about The Suicide Squad
"with DC, and I was excited about that.
"Alan asked me to come talk to him."
He continued, "I got a little bit teary eyed
"in his office, and then I had to go tell Kevin Feige
"I had just decided to do The Suicide Squad,
"so that made me very nervous."
However, Gunn also took some time in the interview
to look to the future and give us a little bit
of an idea of what we might expect to see
in Guardians Volume 3.
When asked which storyline he would have been saddest
to lose control of, he emphatically said
that it was the evolution of Rocket as a character,
explaining that he feels a strong affinity
for the sassy little trash panda.
"Rocket is me, he really is.
"I feel compassion for Rocket,
"but I also feel like his story has not been completed.
"He has an arc that started in the first movie,
"continued into the second, and goes through Infinity War
"and Endgame, and then I was set to really finish
"that arc in Guardians 3."
And you know, that seems about right to us.
Rocket has been slowing growing as a character
in those movies, going from an isolated,
foul-mouthed woodland creature to a dude
who's found a family that he truly cares about.
Sounds a lot like Gunn's own growth
over the course of his career.
No longer the guy posting tweets for the sake
of a cheap laugh, but a man with a creative community
that he loves just as much as Rocket
loves the other Guardians.
It may be a little hokey, but we're talking
about the Guardians of the Galaxy here.
And don't they always end a little hokey?
- Dude.
Don't call us plucky.
We don't know what it means.
- But what do you folks think?
Are you excited to have Gunn back in the Benaatar's
driver's seat, do you think he'll be able
to helm two mega franchises at once,
and how do you hope to see the Guardians saga end?
Let's discuss. (bright music)
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