James Gunn

James Francis Gunn Jr. is an American filmmaker, screenwriter, producer, and executive born on August 5, 1966. He serves as the co-chairman and co-CEO of DC Studios alongside producer Peter Safran. Gunn began his professional creative career in music and independent film during the 1990s before expanding into major studio feature films, television series, and interactive media. He is widely known for writing and directing superhero and horror-comedy projects, including Marvel Studios' Guardians of the Galaxy franchise and major releases within the DC Universe.

Gunn was born in St. Louis, Missouri, to James F. Gunn and Leota "Lee" Hynek, and was raised Catholic in Manchester, Missouri. He is of Irish descent. Growing up, he was heavily influenced by low-budget horror movies and genre magazines, leading him to create 8 mm films with his brothers at a young age. He graduated from Jesuit St. Louis University High School in 1984 and later earned a Bachelor of Arts from Saint Louis University, where he drew political cartoons for the student newspaper. In 1995, he completed a Master of Fine Arts in prose writing at Columbia University School of Fine Arts.

In 1989, Gunn formed the St. Louis band The Icons, acting as lead vocalist. The group released the album Mom, We Like It Here on Earth in 1994 before disbanding in the mid-1990s. His filmmaking career officially began with Troma Entertainment, where he co-wrote the independent film Tromeo and Juliet (1996) under the mentorship of Lloyd Kaufman. Gunn subsequently wrote, produced, and acted in the superhero comedy The Specials (2000) and published a novel titled The Toy Collector (2000). His major Hollywood breakthrough arrived as a screenwriter for Scooby-Doo (2002), the 2004 remake of Dawn of the Dead, and Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (2004).

Gunn made his feature directorial debut with the 2006 horror-comedy Slither, followed by the dark superhero comedy Super in 2010. He achieved global commercial and critical acclaim after writing and directing Marvel Studios' Guardians of the Galaxy (2014). He went on to write and direct Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017), The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2022), and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023). Over his career, he has also written for video games such as Lollipop Chainsaw (2012) and created online content including the web series James Gunn's PG Porn.

Following a brief dismissal by Disney in July 2018 over past social media posts, Gunn was rehired in March 2019 to complete the Guardians trilogy. During the interim period, Warner Bros. hired him to write and direct the DC Extended Universe film The Suicide Squad (2021). This led to Gunn writing, directing, and executive producing the spin-off television series Peacemaker.

In November 2022, Gunn and Peter Safran assumed leadership of DC Studios to co-manage film, television, and animation projects for the DC Universe franchise. In this role, Gunn created the animated series Creature Commandos and wrote and directed the feature film Superman (2025). His ongoing projects include writing and producing additional DC Universe titles, such as the follow-up feature Man of Tomorrow.