James Gunn takes misfits seriously, even when he is asking us to laugh at them. We like his warmth and his feel for actors; the crowded plots and the reluctance to stop adding things require more patience.
Fi1m perspective
A small animal sits in a cage in a bright room, and James Gunn gives the joke a rest. In Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023), Rocket's past makes the armed, argumentative raccoon someone whose hurt matters. We were upset by that first cage scene because the clean surroundings make his helplessness so stark. Sean Gunn voices the young Rocket and Bradley Cooper the adult, and neither begs for sympathy.
The early work was less restrained about what might turn a stomach: Slither (2006) mixed horror and comedy, with Super (2010) following before the turn to Marvel. Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) put five oddballs at the centre, with the chatter and affection becoming its chief attractions. That was his breakthrough as a writer-director at Marvel. The Suicide Squad (2021) took his irreverence to a villain team at DC.
The third Guardians is our favourite of the trilogy, though its rescue mission runs longer than its story warrants. Gunn gets dependable laughs from Dave Bautista's literal-minded Drax and Pom Klementieff's exasperated Mantis, pairing them whenever the plot needs help. He also lets Chris Pratt and Zoe Saldaña play disappointment without turning every exchange into a gag. His actors can make a crowded film feel companionable, but they cannot make its sagging middle disappear.
Superman (2025) exposes that weakness more plainly. Gunn writes and directs a hero who is already established, trusting David Corenswet to make ordinary decency interesting rather than treating goodness as an embarrassment. Corenswet gives him the warmth he needs, and Nicholas Hoult supplies a Luthor worth disliking. Yet the dozen characters and accumulating crises leave too little space for that good idea, until the action becomes mostly noise. Start with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, provided a talking raccoon sounds like someone worth spending an evening with.
Biography
James Gunn is an American filmmaker, screenwriter, director and producer. He was born on 5 August 1966 in St. Louis, Missouri.
Gunn began his career writing for Troma Entertainment before directing films including Slither (2006). He is known for writing and directing the Guardians of the Galaxy films (2014, 2017, 2023), The Suicide Squad (2021) and Superman (2025). He also wrote the screenplays for Scooby-Doo (2002) and Dawn of the Dead (2004).
In 2022, Warner Bros. Discovery appointed Gunn and Peter Safran as co-chairmen and co-CEOs of DC Studios. Under this role, Gunn has overseen the DC Universe franchise, writing and directing Superman (2025) and serving as producer on Supergirl (2026).
