Some of the best world builders have been those who go against the grain, and no one fits that description better than James Gunn. After taking just three minutes to come up with the creation of the Infinity Stones in the Marvel Cinematic Universe or the controversial changes to Clark Kent’s (David Corenswet) Kryptonian parents in “Superman,” mixing things up has proven to be one of the writer/director’s greatest skills. There was a time, however, when Gunn took risks early in his career that weren’t well received, but he now considers to be some of the best choices he ever made.
In an interview with GQ, Gunn recalled when he was asked to work on the 2004 “Dawn of the Dead” remake, which Zack Snyder would direct, resulting in one of the greatest remakes ever made. Between daring to step over George A. Romero’s 1978 classic and having just recently turned Scrappy-Doo into a villain in 2002’s “Scooby-Doo,” Gunn was shaking things up a bit. Those actions unfortunately didn’t sit well with fans, though, who were making that abundantly clear.
“I’d seemed to be at the lightning rod of all this controversy from the beginning,” Gunn theorized. “But ‘Dawn of the Dead,’ you know, people found out it was being remade, and there was a petition online to stop the making of ‘Dawn of the Dead’ with hundreds of thousands of signatures.”
From there, Gunn’s career became one that many fans watched closely, and were ultimately silenced when both “Dawn of the Dead” and “Scooby-Doo” proved to be hits in their own right.
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Fast zombies and villainous puppies helped fortify James Gunn’s future
The survivors in 2004’s Dawn of the Dead covered in blood – Universal Pictures
Looking back now, it seems Gunn is happy to have gone through the experiences he did when tackling two very different properties that were held so close to the hearts of their relevant fan bases. “All of a sudden, I’m showing up on Page Six in the celebrity.land, you know, because of ‘Dawn of the Dead’ as a screenwriter, who, you know, screenwriters, like, aren’t really that well known, especially the guy who just wrote one hit movie.”
It was a trial by fandom fire that undoubtedly prepared him for the years ahead, and now fans of two of the biggest comic universes — Marvel and DC — trust him, even with the gambles he chose to take while doing so. “There was controversy around ‘Scooby-Doo,’ controversy around ‘Dawn of the Dead.’ So somehow I was becoming involved in these projects that had all this controversy for one reason or the other, and it leads all the way to today.”
It’s been a long and risky road for Gunn, marked by turning points that have introduced us to friendly talking trees and new takes on heroes who are faster than speeding bullets, and it’s certainly been worth the trip.
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