Fans are still reeling over James Gunn leaving Marvel, after several shocking social media posts were uncovered from the director's past in the lead-up to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, seemingly poking fun at pedophilia and the Holocaust and resulting in his firing from Disney. This set in motion a series of events that led to the existence of the DCU and Gunn turning his back on the red brand.
Gunn had released movies before coming to Marvel Studios with Guardians of the Galaxy, but Guardians put him on the map. However, after drama stemming from several controversial tweets left Gunn without a job heading into Guardians 3, it opened up the opportunity for DC to swoop in and scoop him up.
After his firing from Marvel Studios in 2018, Gunn was ultimately reinstated as the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 director. Still, there was just enough time for him to draw the eye of Warner Bros., resulting in him leading the entire DCU.
Gunn's last film with Marvel was Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which was released in 2023. Since then, he launched his interconnected DCU (Warner Bros.' latest attempt at their own competitor to the Marvel Cinematic Universe), which just hit the big screen for the first time with the release of the David Corenswet-led Superman.
Why Did James Gunn Leave Marvel?
DC Studios co-CEO and former Marvel director James Gunn revisited his departure from the MCU, explaining to fans what exactly happened and why he did not return to the red brand after Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. A lot of it has to do with the former Twitter controversy the director went through in 2018.
At the time, several controversial posts from the filmmaker's past surfaced, prompting Disney to fire him from the MCU. In July 2018, Walt Disney Studios Chairman Alan Horn announced the news, stating, "The offensive attitudes and statements discovered on James' Twitter feed are indefensible" and "inconsistent with our studio's values" (via BBC):
"The offensive attitudes and statements discovered on James' Twitter feed are indefensible...[They are] inconsistent with our studio's values, and we have severed our business relationship with him."
The decision drew widespread criticism from several stars of Gunn's movies, various media figures, and the public at large.
Gunn talked plenty about the results of his Disney firing. In July 2025, the director remarked on Happy, Sad, Confused that he "100% thought [his career] was over," but it was after seeing everyone standing by his side in the fallout that he "felt loved for the first time in [his] life:"
"100% thought it was over. 100% thought it was totally done. 100% was like, 'I gotta think about what I am going to do next.' And 100% thought I might have to sell my house and figure out how I can conserve the money that I had made so far to last for the rest of my life...When that happened, I felt like everything in my life had been taken from me at one time, but, in that moment, all of a sudden all these people loved me in a moment when I thought my career was over, and I felt loved for the first time in my life."
Disney eventually gave in to the public outcry, reinstating Gunn as the Guardians 3 director eight months later in March 2019. However, in that time, Warner Bros. (WB) came swooping in.
According to Gunn, during those eight months, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige was "fighting" to bring the Guardians director back for the third film, but that was when Toby Emmerich from WB knocked on his door (via Armchair Expert):
"It was the worst, because... So Kevin [Feige] was fighting for my job back. I went and I met with Alan Horn, a guy I loved to death. It wasn't happening. I left. Toby Emmerick from Warner Bros., at the time, came to me."
Emmerich initially pitched Gunn on doing a Superman reboot for the studio before eventually turning his focus to The Suicide Squad (which would become Gunn's first project for DC):
"He's like, 'James Gunn Superman. James Gunn Superman.' I said, 'I don't know, man.' And then he was like, 'Well, what about Suicide Squad?' And so, I came up with an idea. I went and pitched it. They were like, 'Yes, let's do it.' There's no joke. I went home, and I got a phone call, and it was Alan Horn and he said, 'James, I wonder if you could come in and see me tomorrow.'"
Gunn said that signing on for The Suicide Squad delayed Guardians, as he was hired back at Marvel shortly after taking on the DC project. He remembered telling Feige, "I'm gonna do a Suicide Squad sequel," to which the Marvel Studios executive responded, "It's fine. It's fine. Go do it. And then we'll do Guardians [Vol. 3] after:"
"I have to do something else first.' And... Oh my God, I didn't remember this 'till right now... And Kevin goes, 'Are you doing Superman?' I forgot about that 'till just this moment. I said, 'No, no, I'm gonna do a Suicide Squad sequel.' And he said, 'Whoa.' He was like, 'Okay.' He's like, 'It's fine. It's fine. Go do it. And then we'll do 'Guardians [Vol. 3]' after.'"
Gunn released The Suicide Squad in 2021 to rave reviews, earning plaudits from the Warner Bros. brass. This, paired with WB's fledgling efforts within its own DCEU, caused the studio to approach the Guardians director to helm their on-screen efforts in a new DCU headed up by him and producer Peter Safran.
The now-DC Studios co-CEO stuck to his word and directed Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (which came to theaters in May 2023) for Marvel Studios, but, after being named as head of the new DCU in late 2022, the deal was done. Gunn now lives and breathes the blue brand.
