When James Gunn was sacked as director of Guardians of the Galaxy 3 in 2018, he must have wondered if his career in Hollywood was over just as it had really started to catch fire. The filmmaker had been behind both incredibly successful previous instalments of the superhero saga before coming under attack when old tweets resurfaced that made light of 9/11, rape and paedophilia. The Walt Disney Studios chairman, Alan Horn, called Gunn’s behaviour “indefensible” and severed ties with him.
Fast forward four years and Gunn, now 56, has just been announced as creative head of DC Studios, a newly minted division of Warner Bros that will take over the studio’s film, TV and animated superhero properties. DC is of course the moody bridesmaid to Marvel’s preening, annoyingly perfect bride. But Gunn last year directed the former’s most celebrated movie in years, the irreverent, brash and smartly configured The Suicide Squad, a film he would ironically never have taken had he not been sacked by Marvel. He is also directing Guardians of the Galaxy 3, due out in May, after the stars of the saga threatened to walk if he was not reinstated.
