Credit: Inside the MagicAs things continue to unravel behind the scenes at Marvel Studios, a former staff member is speaking out against fan-favorite Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) director James Gunn after he allegedly used “bullying tactics” to keep his co-writer’s name out of the movie’s credits.
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As if it isn’t challenging enough being a female screenwriter in Hollywood already, try going head-to-head with one of the biggest names in the entertainment industry: superhero genre tycoon James Gunn.
Responsible for writing and directing titles such as Marvel’s critically acclaimed Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy and DC Studios’ The Suicide Squad (2021), Gunn has earned the trust of longtime comic book fanatics, faithfully adapting beloved storylines to the big screen while adding his own (oftentimes, R-rated) twist.
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Now, Gunn has jumped ship from Disney and Marvel to Warner Bros., where he and co-CEO Peter Safran will lead DC Studios’ film, television, and animation departments. Under his guidance, their first batch of rebooted projects, which fall under the “Chapter One: Gods and Monsters” umbrella, will include films like the eagerly-awaited Superman: Legacy (2025) and The Brave and the Bold (TBA).
However, to fully understand how Gunn arrived at this point, it’s important to reflect on his time with the MCU, which saw some pretty ugly days for the veteran filmmaker. Fans of the superhero franchise likely recall Gunn’s shock firing from Marvel Studios in 2018 over a series of controversial tweets in which he poked fun at serious social issues, including the 9/11 attack, AIDS, sexual assault, and the Holocaust.
Marvel eventually reinstated Gunn as the director of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023) after receiving backlash from audiences and big-time Hollywood stars such as Chris Pratt, who plays the MCU’s Star-Lord/Peter Quill, Bradley Cooper (AKA the voice of Rocket Raccoon), and Gamora actress Zoe Saldana.
However, the damage was already done, and Gunn confirmed that the Guardians threequel would mark his final collaboration with Marvel Studios. Shortly after, his new position at DC was announced.
Over the years, his Guardians and Suicide Squad cast have been more than open about their positive experiences working with Gunn, but according to a damning new report, it seems there might have been more trouble behind the scenes, particularly in regards to his behavior.
In the new MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios book, an exposé penned by Joanna Robinson, Dave Gonzales, and Gavin Edwards, a series of excerpts don’t exactly paint Gunn in a positive light, adding fuel to the preexisting allegations of what transpired between the director and screenwriter Nicole Perlman.
According to Zack Stentz, a close friend and fellow screenwriter who worked on Thor (2011), Perlman wrote the original story and screenplay for Guardians of the Galaxy, although it was discarded by James Gunn, who chose to write his own script. However, due to WGA rules, Perlman was still given a co-writer screenplay credit as she was the film’s first writer.
At first, Perlman tried to keep her drama with Gunn under wraps, declining to challenge the filmmaker publicly by saying, “I credit everybody on that movie, including James, for making it so beautiful.” In the book, however, Stentz objects on Perlman’s behalf, saying she “had to knife-fight” for her credit on Guardians and even supposedly held a “f*** James Gunn” party after shooting wrapped:
Nicole had to knife-fight for her credit on Guardians of the Galaxy. But she is probably the preeminent female action tentpole writer now because she was the first woman to have her name on not just a Marvel movie, but on a Marvel movie that people really love. She threw a party when the movie came out literally called the ‘Fuck James Gunn’ party because she had won that very bruising credit arbitration. The thing that I’m still angry about, and I say this as a fan of James Gunn as a director, was that he very clearly was selectively leaking stuff to his friends and the fanboy media circles to undermine her credit. When Matthew Vaughn decided to have a temper tantrum over the fact that we got screen credit [on X-Men: First Class), at least he did it under his own name.
Stentz is correct in saying Perlman is one of Hollywood’s prominent female action writers, having buzzy projects such as Pokémon Detective Pikachu (2019) and Captain Marvel (2019) under her belt. But even though she has some impressive writing credits on her resume, it seems like she had to fight tooth and nail to get to the position she’s in today, even at a studio that pledged to hire more women behind the camera.
It is important to note that even though Gunn overhauled most of the original story penned by Perlman, many of her ideas, including “Star Lord’s backstory and passion for retro music,” remained, which absolutely entitles her to some acknowledgment in the credits. Still, things between Gunn and Perlman became contentious during production, as the former seemingly didn’t think Perlman deserved recognition for the end product despite having directly contributed to some of the film’s most iconic moments.
Eventually, Perlman received her writing credit on Guardians of the Galaxy for her original screenplay, which she said wasn’t “based on any particular comic book.” She went on to work on other movies while Gunn completed the script for the Guardians of the Galaxy sequel and threequel. Today, Perlman is currently set to co-produce Luca Guadagnino’s upcoming The Lord of the Flies (TBA) adaptation.
These rumors of Perlman and Gunn’s feud are hardly new, with reports of their behind-the-scenes squabble dating back to Guardians’ production. Still, Gunn seemingly cleared the air with Perlman in a 2015 post uploaded to Facebook, in which he honored his co-writer after learning they’d been nominated for a Writers Guild Award for Best Adapted Screenplay:
So today I woke up to discover I was nominated, along with Nicole Perlman, for a Writer’s Guild Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for ‘Guardians of the Galaxy.’ I’m honored and surprised by this, especially because we were the only film, of all ten films nominated for writing awards, that did not send a screener to Guild members, and did not spend money on any kind of push. Pretty damn cool. I know some of my fellow Writers’ Guild members follow me here, so thanks!
Obviously, there’s no way to confirm or deny whether this report is true. It’ll be interesting to see if Gunn — who’s typically very active on his social media platforms — has anything to say on the matter now that it’s being rehashed thanks to the MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios book.
These new claims from Stentz certainly don’t help Gunn’s reputation, which will undeniably be swayed by his treatment of the next era of DCEU content. There’s already an air of uncertainty surrounding “Chapter One: Gods and Monsters,” and accusations such as this might scare off prospective directors, writers, and actors from joining the franchise.
Ultimately, it sounds like Nicole Perlman was given credit where credit’s due and, according to this new report, celebrated her win with a vivacious send-off to James Gunn. It’s disappointing to think that she might not have been credited for her work on the beloved MCU film if Gunn had his way, and hopefully, both filmmakers can leave their beef in the past as they continue to work on other projects.
Do you think Nicole Perlman had an appropriate reaction to her feud with James Gunn on Guardians of the Galaxy? Let us know in the comments below.