James Gunn’s Superman isn’t just the launchpad for the new DC Universe — it’s also the most vulnerable, emotionally grounded film the director has ever made, but according to Gunn, that version of the character, and the story he’s now telling, simply wouldn’t exist without one of the most painful moments in his career: getting fired from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
In a long and very personal conversation with Rolling Stone, Gunn revealed that the public outpouring of support he received during that time — including from the cast of Guardians, fans, and colleagues — had a profound impact on him. “There’s no doubt that without that experience, I don’t think that I would’ve written the Superman that I wrote,” he said. “I just don’t think that a character that pure would’ve quite appealed to me.”
Gunn described that stretch of his life as a “transformative experience” — not just professionally, but emotionally. “That opened the door for me to stop creating so that people would like me. That’s downplaying it — so people would love me,” he said. “Everything I had done came from a pleasing place… That’s exactly right. Which came from that kid in a dysfunctional family trying to make everybody happy by dancing around. Literally that’s what my f*cking career was.”
James Gunn’s Marvel Firing Changed His Mindset
According to Gunn, that neediness manifested in his creative choices — in writing characters who juggled for approval. “How I got good at working with people like Chris Pratt is because he came in and I’m like, ‘Stop. You don’t need to juggle.’ Same thing with John Cena. ‘You don’t need to juggle for the audience to like you. You’re a fucking movie star. Just be present and show that natural vulnerability that’s a part of who you are.’”
But he admitted that while he was able to guide others through those emotional barriers, he hadn’t truly internalised the lesson himself. “Really good at giving that advice. But not taking it to heart in a way that was transformative,” he said. It wasn’t until the Marvel firing — and the unexpected love and support that followed — that he finally understood what it meant to create from a place of wholeness, rather than desperation.
“That moment gave that to me,” he said. “I’m not perfect on the other side of it… but my basic life choices are not made according to that anymore.”
Superman flies into theaters on July 11, 2025.
Source: Rolling Stone