James Gunn

James Francis Gunn Jr. (born August 5, 1966) is an esteemed American screenwriter, director, and producer. He started his career as a screenwriter in the mid-1990s and made his name at Troma Entertainment with Tromeo and Juliet (1996). He further established his identity as a director in the horror-comedy genre with Slither (2006) and then ventured into the superhero genre with Super (2010), Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017), The Suicide Squad (2021), and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023). In 2022, Gunn along with Peter Safran were appointed as co-chairmen and co-CEOs of DC Studios under Warner Bros. Discovery, responsible for producing and executive producing every film and series under the upcoming DC Universe (DCU) media franchise.

Apart from his successful career in mainstream cinema, James Gunn is also known for writing and directing the web series James Gunn's PG Porn (2008–2009), HBO Max original series Peacemaker (2022–present), and Disney+ original special The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2022). He wrote for the remake of George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead (1978), Scooby Doo (2002) and its sequel, and produced the horror-action film The Belko Experiment (2016), all of which established and solidified his reputation as a versatile filmmaker. Gunn faced controversy over past tweets in 2018, leading to his temporary dismissal from Disney, but was reinstated in 2019 after significant public appeal. He has also contributed to game design, with his narrative work for the 2012 hack-and-slash video game Lollipop Chainsaw.