Zombies, alien slugs, and an R-rated "Scooby-Doo" — honestly, it's kind of a miracle James Gunn joined the family-friendly Marvel universe. Most of the world learned Gunn's name after he wrote and directed "Guardians of the Galaxy" for the MCU, a rollicking superhero team-up that blended comedy and action in a way the whole family could enjoy. But even audiences with no prior knowledge of Gunn's work could sense something different about this MCU outing.
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00:00Zombies, alien slugs, and an R-rated Scooby-Doo.
00:04Honestly, it's kind of a miracle James Gunn
00:06joined the family-friendly Marvel Universe.
00:08Keep watching to see why Gunn credits the toxic Avenger
00:11with teaching him all he knows about filmmaking,
00:13and so much more.
00:15James Gunn found his time working
00:17at the micro-budget film production company,
00:19Troma Entertainment, to be far more worthwhile
00:21than earning an MFA from Columbia University.
00:23While making $400 a week,
00:25he was given an on-hands crash course
00:27on the practicality of filmmaking,
00:29writing the script for the trashy horror comedy,
00:31Tromeo and Juliet, may not seem impressive,
00:34but Gunn says working on that film taught him quite a lot.
00:36He learned how to write screenplays, produce films,
00:39scout locations, direct actors, distribute films,
00:42and create his own poster art.
00:44Troma does absolutely every aspect of filmmaking in-house,
00:47which allowed Gunn a full-circle look
00:49at the industry as a whole.
00:50Gunn has called Troma founder Lloyd Kaufman his mentor,
00:53and has cited Kaufman as pivotal to his success.
00:56He said,
00:57I learned to try to make a movie for free,
00:59and you'll end up spending the bare minimum
01:01of what you can spend.
01:02That's what we like to hear.
01:03Troma films are known for their shoestring budgets,
01:06scraping together horror, sci-fi,
01:08and gross-out comedy films as a genuine labor of love.
01:11For the studio's over 45-year history,
01:14Troma has produced, acquired,
01:15and distributed over 1,000 independent films.
01:18It's even helped launch the careers of creatives
01:20like South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone.
01:23Gunn later co-authored the book,
01:25All I Need to Know About Filmmaking
01:27I Learned from the Toxic Avenger,
01:29the shocking true story of Troma Studios.
01:31In it, Kaufman argued that the best possible film school
01:34is just getting a group of people together
01:36and making the damn movie.
01:38For his first Hollywood screenplay,
01:40Gunn penned the script for the live-action Scooby-Doo movie.
01:43Clearly still feeling the effects of his years at Troma,
01:45the original cut of the film would have earned an R rating.
01:48There's obviously no way Warner Brothers
01:50and Hanna-Barbera would have let their golden goose
01:52leave the family-friendly confines,
01:54and Gunn was challenged to restructure the film
01:56for all ages.
01:57Either that, or I'm outta here!
02:01While Gunn personally believes Scooby-Doo
02:03should have continued with the intended plan
02:04to make a raunchy teen comedy,
02:06the film's retooling may have been
02:07the best possible exercise to prepare him
02:09for his eventual superhero work.
02:11It taught him just how far he could push comedy and scares
02:14while still appeasing the MPA,
02:16and the film was a massive success.
02:18Gunn was approached to write a variety
02:19of Hanna-Barbera films in the wake of Scooby-Doo,
02:22but instead set his sights on the Dawn of the Dead remake
02:24with director Zack Snyder.
02:26Horror fans expected Dawn of the Dead to fail,
02:28as remakes are usually not well-received.
02:31However, Gunn and Snyder did the impossible,
02:33and Dawn of the Dead surpassed all expectations.
02:36Gunn knew it would be a fool's errand
02:37to try and remake the film beat by beat,
02:40so he instead provided a story
02:41that featured the most memorable moments
02:43and lines of the original,
02:44but still felt wholly original
02:46and updated for modern audiences.
02:48This is the film of someone
02:49who not only loves the source material,
02:51but respects it.
02:52This mindset would prove beneficial later in his career
02:55as he adapted well-loved comic books.
02:58In his directorial debut,
03:00Gunn combined everything he'd learned
03:01working in both the low-budget world of Troma
03:03and the Hollywood studio system,
03:05and created the 80s-inspired creature feature, Slither.
03:09A marriage of films like Night of the Creeps,
03:11Shivers, and The Brood,
03:12Gunn made the most of his $15 million budget.
03:15He delivered an independent horror film
03:17boasting some of the best practical effects in years.
03:20On making the film, he shared,
03:22I learned to fight for what I believed in.
03:24Universal originally wasn't going to spend the money
03:26to screen the film for critics,
03:28but Gunn felt that it was necessary
03:30and convinced the studio otherwise.
03:32The film ended up being
03:33one of the best-reviewed horror movies in years,
03:35even if the crowds didn't turn out for it.
03:37Gunn explained,
03:38The truth is that Slither was not financially successful,
03:41so the fact that it was so well-reviewed
03:43really helped my career.
03:44There are times in life
03:45when I just have to follow this instinct,
03:47no matter how uncomfortable it is.
03:49Slither is a mix of everything
03:51that makes James Gunn great.
03:52It's hilarious, creepy,
03:54filled with practical effects,
03:56impressively graphic,
03:57features a killer soundtrack,
03:59and boasts an incredible performance from Michael Rooker.
04:02Help!
04:04Why are you running from me, baby?
04:06I wasn't gonna hurt you!
04:08I love you, baby!
04:09It also has an unexpected heart
04:11that sneaks up on the viewer
04:12with the same tension as a jump scare.
04:14Slither is a love letter
04:15to the B-movie horror and sci-fi films
04:17that helped formulate Gunn's love of cinema
04:19and evidence that James Gunn was the future.
04:22When Gunn was announced as the writer and director
04:24of Guardians of the Galaxy,
04:25genre fans couldn't have been more thrilled.
04:28Marvel was already nine films deep
04:30into the Infinity Saga
04:31when Guardians debuted,
04:32and it was clear that Gunn
04:33was on an entirely different wavelength
04:35than what came before.
04:36Gunn's sense of humor was a bit edgier
04:38than what was seen in films like
04:39Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America,
04:42and his lovable group of misfits
04:44felt a lot like the teams Gunn brought to life
04:45in Scooby-Doo and Dawn of the Dead.
04:55Gunn effortlessly weaved in over-the-top violence
04:58with hilarity and heart like he had done with Slither.
05:00Despite the commercial failure
05:01of his black comedy film Super,
05:03Gunn was able to show that he knew a thing or two
05:05about comic book movies.
05:07Guardians ushered in a new form of maturity
05:09to the MCU,
05:10with sensibilities clearly inspired
05:11by his previous work.
05:13He took things to the next level
05:14with The Suicide Squad,
05:16which, until Peacemaker,
05:17felt like the most James Gunn project
05:19to ever come to life.
05:20As Slash Films' own Danielle Ryan described them,
05:22both feature unlikely heroes,
05:24unconventional love stories,
05:26mind-controlling alien hordes,
05:28and more guts and gore
05:29than you could shake a stick at.
05:30Both are stories about how we treat each other
05:32and how our assumptions about one another
05:34can hurt us more than even invading aliens.
05:36Gunn brings the metaphors hidden beneath the gore
05:39and spectacle of a horror film
05:40to the superhero franchise.
05:42In doing so,
05:43he proves why there's always been deeper themes
05:45in comic book movies worth exploring,
05:47and that you can never go wrong
05:48with an extra bucket of blood.