The Suicide Squad director James Gunn opened up about getting fired from Marvel in 2018.
No one has had quite the comeback like James Gunn. After writing and directing the first two Guardians of the Galaxy films for Marvel, Gunn was canned from the third film after inappropriate tweets he made years ago resurfaced. Fans objected to his removal, finding it arbitrary and reactionary. Shortly afterward, Warner Bros. and DC snagged up Gunn and gave him the keys to their kingdom. The director eventually settled on helming The Suicide Squad, which is set to hit cinemas next month.
In a recent interview with Esquire, James Gunn bluntly discussed his Marvel firing and how he approached the entire situation.
“I just—things went crazy there for a moment. I just sort of stayed in my space, and I was honest to myself. I didn’t let it destroy me in any way. I took responsibility for things that I had done. That was certainly not a blameless situation.”
As work commenced on The Suicide Squad, the controversy surrounding James Gunn subsided. Marvel swooped in and reinstated Gunn as the writer and director of Guardians of the Galaxy. However, agreeing to work with Marvel again meant having a candid conversation with Warner Brothers:
“I went to [Marvel Studios president] Kevin Feige’s house, and I sat down with him. I said, ‘I’d really like to do this, but you have to know something. And then I told him what the movie was and what the situation was because he’s my friend. He’s another human being. I open and honest about all of that. And at the same time, I had to call [Warner Bros Chairman] Toby Emmerich and tell him too. But I told him, ‘I’m totally committed to The Suicide Squad, it doesn’t mean that I’m just leaving to go back to Marvel forever, and we’ll never be back to DC. I just want to be honest with everybody. I put everything in every movie I make, and leave nothing on the floor. That remains the same no matter what.”
What are your thoughts on James Gunn’s firing? Are you excited to see a director helm both a DC and Marvel movie? Comment below and let us know!
You can check out the synopsis for James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad below:
Welcome to hell—a.k.a. Belle Reve, the prison with the highest mortality rate in the US of A. Where the worst Super-Villains are kept and where they will do anything to get out—even join the super-secret, super-shady Task Force X. Today’s do-or-die assignment? Assemble a collection of cons, including Bloodsport, Peacemaker, Captain Boomerang, Ratcatcher 2, Savant, King Shark, Blackguard, Javelin and everyone’s favorite psycho, Harley Quinn. Then arm them heavily and drop them (literally) on the remote, enemy-infused island of Corto Maltese. Trekking through a jungle teeming with militant adversaries and guerrilla forces at every turn, the Squad is on a search-and-destroy mission, with only Colonel Rick Flag on the ground to make them behave…and Amanda Waller’s government techies in their ears, tracking their every movement. And as always, one wrong move and they’re dead (whether at the hands of their opponents, a teammate, or Waller herself). If anyone’s laying down bets, the smart money is against them—all of them.
Written and directed by James Gunn, The Suicide Squad stars David Dastmalchian, John Cena, Jai Courtney, Joaquín Cosío, Nathan Fillion, Joel Kinnaman, Mayling Ng, Flula Borg, Sean Gunn, Juan Diego Botto, Storm Reid, Pete Davidson, Taika Waititi, Alice Braga, Steve Agee, Tinashe Kajese, Daniela Melchior, Peter Capaldi, Julio Ruiz, Jennifer Holland, Viola Davis, Idris Elba, Margot Robbie, and Michael Rooker.
The Suicide Squad is currently scheduled to hit theaters and HBO Max on August 6, 2021. Stay tuned for all the latest news on The Suicide Squad and be sure to subscribe to Heroic Hollywood’s YouTube channel for more original video content!
Source: Esquire
