James Gunn

Biography:

James Francis Gunn Jr. (born August 5, 1966) is an American filmmaker, screenwriter, producer, and musician. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, to attorney James F. Gunn and Leota “Lee” (Hynek), he grew up Catholic in Manchester, Missouri. Gunn has five siblings, including actor Sean Gunn and writer Matt Gunn, and comes from an Irish immigrant family, though he has also mentioned Jewish ancestry.

From an early age, Gunn was drawn to horror and low-budget films like Night of the Living Dead and Friday the 13th, making 8mm zombie films with his brothers by age 12. He attended St. Louis University High School and later earned a B.A. from Saint Louis University. He briefly studied film at Loyola Marymount before completing an M.F.A. in prose writing at Columbia University in 1995.

In the late 1980s, Gunn founded the band The Icons, serving as lead vocalist until their mid-1990s breakup. His early film career began with Troma Entertainment, where he co-wrote Tromeo and Juliet (1996). He went on to write The Specials (2000) and gained mainstream recognition with Scooby-Doo (2002), Dawn of the Dead (2004), and Slither (2006), his directorial debut.

Gunn expanded his career with web projects like PG Porn, reality TV (Scream Queens), and feature films including Super (2010) and The Belko Experiment (2017). His breakthrough came with Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) and its 2017 sequel, which he wrote and directed. In 2018, Disney briefly severed ties with him over resurfaced controversial tweets, but he was reinstated in 2019 after widespread industry and fan support.

Around the same time, Gunn joined DC, writing and directing The Suicide Squad (2021) and its spin-off series Peacemaker. In 2022, he and longtime collaborator Peter Safran were appointed co-chairmen and CEOs of the newly rebranded DC Studios, overseeing films, TV, and animation. Gunn is currently directing Superman (2025), launching the new DC Universe, with additional projects like Creature Commandos, Waller, and Supergirl in development.

Outside of film, Gunn has written a novel (The Toy Collector, 2000), co-authored a book with Lloyd Kaufman, and contributed to video game writing (Lollipop Chainsaw).

In his personal life, Gunn was married to actress Jenna Fischer from 2000 to 2008. Since 2015, he has been with actress Jennifer Holland, whom he married in 2022. A dog lover, he adopted his dog Ozu in 2022, inspiring the redesign of Krypto in his upcoming Superman film. In 2023, PETA named him Person of the Year. Though raised Catholic, Gunn has described himself as both spiritual and critical of organized religion.