How Director James Gunn Learned To Enjoy The Process After 'Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2' and 'The Suicide Squad'?
James Gunn has been a major influence in making comic book films fun again. Whether it was making us fall in love with a sentient tree, injecting comedic beats into the tensest of scenes, or creating a series of playlists that even your parents would enjoy, this innovator has delighted fans of every age.
Two of the biggest hits in his career came from the world of comics, both Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy and DC's The Suicide Squad. These similar, yet vastly different franchises have all of the sensibilities we have come to adore about Gunn: Oddball characters who become family, fast-paced action, and a deeper narrative than what's on the surface. This would explain why he keeps getting hired, and in Disney's case, fired and re-hired for his fantastical way of approaching story, leading to sequels and spin-offs such as HBO Max's Peacemaker based on John Cena's titular character from The Suicide Squad.
In a recent interview with Variety, Gunn was asked if The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker influenced his work on the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
"A little bit. I had as much fun as you could have during COVID making Peacemaker, and so I'm trying to apply that more to Vol. 3. In all truth, the first two Guardians, I love the cast and crew, but they were really difficult to make. And a lot of that was self-imposed difficulty by me. I realized after Vol. 2 that I couldn't continue to live a life if I made everything I did like Vol. 2, which I just killed myself over, unnecessarily. I needed to balance my life a little bit better. And so I've been applying that to Vol. 3."
His response shows growth as a creative and how he learned to trust his talents to guide his work. Gunn continues,
"I think The Suicide Squad also has informed Vol. 3 a lot in terms of how we're shooting it. There's a different type of groundedness, I think, in this movie that we had in both Peacemaker and Suicide Squad. I learned so much from everything that I do."
We see how effortless it seems for directors like James Gunn, who have proven their mettle time and time again, but what we don't always see is the side of their process that comes with the anxiety of working within the studio system, being responsible for multi-million dollar franchises, and keeping those properties fresh and viable through several movies and shows.
It is refreshing when creatives allow a deeper insight into what goes into having the most responsibility of anyone in the room. Making movies is hard and fans, myself included, often take for granted the grueling task of making them and doing it well. We could all learn a lesson from James Gunn and the countless other folks in the industry who put in their all to keep us entertained day in, day out.
We, the audience, have the easy part of merely watching and enjoying. So, the next time you take to the internet to unburden your brain about a film not being exactly what you wanted, stop and ask yourself, "Could you have done better?" Probably not.
