To say James Gunn has had a tumultuous few years would be quite the understatement. The filmmaker was all set to begin working on the third Guardians of the Galaxy movie when some admittedly pretty vile Tweets were dug up in an effort to disgrace the outspoken director. It worked, and Gunn found himself out of a job.
However, Warner Bros. would get in touch shortly after and offer him a life-raft with the chance to helm The Suicide Squad.
Gunn has spoken about this trying time in the past, but has now opened up about how he dealt with the situation and ultimately came to see what happened as a blessing.
“I just—things went crazy there for a moment. I just sort of stayed in my space, and I was honest to myself,” Gunn tells Esquire. "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.”
Gunn believes boarding The Suicide Squad really did "save his career," and it wasn't long before things would take another positive turn, as Marvel would reach out and give him the opportunity to return to take the helm of GOTG Vol. 3.
“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."
The Suicide Squad is set for release in theaters and on HBO Max on August 6. You can check out an IMAX poster and featurette containing some action packed new footage below.
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