James Gunn and Joss Whedon have never shared any professional projects, but seeing as Whedon delivered the third highest-grossing film of all time for Marvel Studios (a little film you may have heard of called ‘The Avengers‘), it was natural that Gunn, the ‘Super’ director, who was vying to direct ‘Guardians of the Galaxy‘ would reach out to Whedon, with whom he’d been friends for years. (In fact, the ‘Angel’ character Charles Gunn was named after him.)
But it was too late. Gunn admitted, “I wrote him an e-mail and said, ‘Hey, I’m trying to get this job. Can you help me?’” But Whedon responded, “’You’re f*****g late.” Oh no! Has Gunn missed the boat? Had the film been offered to someone else? Not, exactly. Whedon continued, “I already talked to all of those guys all about you.’”
Whedon was firmly in Gunn’s corner and that could only have helped with as much clout as Whedon how holds at Marvel. But there was one condition– Whedon wanted to make sure that ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ was, without a doubt a “James Gunn movie.”
Gunn completed his first draft of the script and presented it to Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige and producer Louis D’Esposito, who both loved it! But it was when Whedon read the script that things suddenly came to a screeching halt.
“Joss was happy, but he wasn’t as happy as everybody else. I was like, ‘Whoa, man!’ And he’s like, ‘Well, I really loved this and this is great, and the story’s been cracked. But I just really want there to be more James Gunn in the script. There are things that are too conventional, and I want more James Gunn in it… And I was like, ‘Alright, your funeral.’”
So Gunn went home and wrote a sequence where the main characters are all sitting around their spaceship just chatting.
Whedon allegedly had some additional involvement. Producer Jonathan Schwartz revealed:
“Joss was involved with a little bit of the writing process. He and James go way back and have a great relationship, and everything we do is kind of crafting the same tapestry that is the [Marvel Cinematic] Universe. So Joss and James got to work together putting this together. It’s James’ script, but Joss was able to be involved in a really useful way.”
Having Whedon involved is the furthest thing from bad! It sounds as if his role was really more of a springboard and to give greater insight into how to make the movie work within the established Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Everything I’ve heard about this movie makes it sound like a real crowd pleaser. What do you think? Excited for this movie?
Source: Cinema Blend
