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Entertainment

James Gunn on Guardians Holiday Special and Future DC Questions

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James Gunn (with Chris Pratt and Dave Bautista) on the set of the Guardians Holiday Special.
Image: Marvel Studios

It’s fitting that James Gunn just released a holiday special because he’s currently the bright star at the center of the superhero movie world. Not only did Gunn just release The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special ahead of next year’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, but he’s also the new co-head of DC Films, currently working out how to compete with Marvel across all media.

If those types of things interest you—and if you’re reading this, they probably do—Gunn’s Twitter is a must-follow. He’s one of a very, very small handful of powerful geek creatives who still actively engages on the platform, and this past weekend Gunn was in full force, answering fans’ burning questions about the Guardians and even teasing some larger generalizations about the future of DC.

Starting with Guardians, Gunn did his best to clear up one of the bigger questions surrounding the special, which is when and how did the Guardians of the Galaxy buy Knowhere, the huge celestial skull where the Collector resided in the first film. “Although the Guardians are sometimes heroes, they work as mercenaries & it brings in a fair amount of money,” Gunn tweeted. “So after Thanos attacked Knowhere they bought it from the Collector. It was a burnt out husk & they’ve been rebuilding it.” On Knowhere, we see the Guardians are now friends with Cosmo, the dog briefly seen in the Collector’s collection in the original Guardians. Gunn confirmed Cosmo hadn’t left, and met the Guardians on the planet.

In terms of timelines between the Holiday Special and the Guardians’ last appearance in Thor: Love and Thunder, Gunn was a little less clear. “I’m not sure how it works out in the timeline (these things aren’t discussed) but in my mind they were only with Thor a few weeks,” he said. He was clear though on why Peter Quill is less OK going back to Earth than he is other places. “Because when we’re 8 years old we process trauma much, much differently than we do when we’re 38,” Gunn tweeted. 

There also seemed to be many, many questions about the new Groot, which Gunn has lovingly dubbed “Swole Groot.” In his mind, this is not the same Groot we saw in the first film who lovingly sacrificed himself for his team. And with a new life and experiences, that explains why his body has developed differently. “I think it’s explicit in the movies,” Gunn tweeted. “As Baby Groot was explicitly a baby without the knowledge of OG Groot. But now that Groot’s body is developing differently it’s more obvious.”

Answering questions about the practicality of the special, Gunn confirmed what was, and wasn’t real, in terms of shooting locations. “Knowhere was mostly practical with some extensions & the spaceship (& Hollywood Blvd) were all practical,” he said.

Just a bevy of Marvel information. Since it’s much newer in Gunn’s career, his openness about the future of DC Film was certainly less specific, but no less exciting. “The DCU will be connected across film and TV (and animation),” Gunn said, kind of wrapping up a slew of tweets where he said there would be 2D and 3D animation, that some of the animations would tie into the world of the movies and TV (while others won’t), future video games will tie into the larger DC Universe, he expects to write and direct some DC projects in the future, and while there is communication between film and comics, he is only involved with the films.

Finally, while Gunn is honest that he’s only been at DC a few weeks and plans are in place, he expects at least some news to be out about his and co-chair Peter Safran’s plans well before next year’s San Diego Comic-Con. But in the meantime, he’s got to finish and promote Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which will tie up not just the story of the Guardians, but Gunn’s at Marvel too.

What’s the main takeaway here? Well, follow James Gunn on Twitter for one. And two, everyone please keep being nice to him so he doesn’t leave. Because it’s incredible to have someone with such influence be so accessible.

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water. 



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Entertainment

Comics creators accuse Marvel and DC of unfair payment practices

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Spanish Captain America comic
Photo: PAU BARRENA/AFP via Getty Images

From Al Jaffe to Jerry Siegel and Joel Schuster, there’s no shortage of comics artists, creators, and writers getting screwed by publishers. Pretty much as soon as the likes of Marvel and D.C. realized that they could cheat creators out of money, they began doing so. And according to a new report by The Guardian, the big two are still playing the hits, preventing creators like Ed Brubaker and Jim Starlin from reaping the benefits of introducing the world to the likes of The Winter Soldier and Thanos through ridiculous contract agreements and pitiful bonuses.

In a recent newsletter, Brubaker, who was already not feeling great about a Winter Soldier TV show, lamented about being so closely related to the world of the Winter Soldier while being left out of the part that puts food on the table: the money. “For the most part, all [co-creator Steve Epting] and I have got for creating the Winter Soldier and his storyline is a ‘thanks’ here or there, and over the years that’s become harder and harder to live with,” Brubaker wrote.

“I have a great life as a writer and much of it is because of Cap and the Winter Soldier bringing so many readers to my other work. But I also can’t deny feeling a bit sick to my stomach sometimes when my inbox fills up with people wanting comments on the show.”

The Guardian goes on to explain that “according to multiple sources, when a writer or artist’s work features prominently in a Marvel film, the company’s practice is to send the creator an invitation to the premiere and a cheque for $5,000.” This is one option. Several sources said that they could also receive nothing or a rare “special character contract,” which allows creators to claim payment when their characters or storylines are used. One anonymous Marvel creator said, “I’ve been offered a [special character contract] that was really, really terrible, but it was that or nothing […] And then instead of honouring it, they send a thank you note and are like, ‘Here’s some money we don’t owe you!’ and it’s five grand. And you’re like, ‘The movie made a billion dollars.’”

Sometimes, even actions that should amount to polite business dealings, such as invitations to premieres, slip through the cracks. The Guardian reports that Brubaker and Epting showed up for the Captain America: The Winter Soldier, a film very much indebted to their Captain America run, premiere party in tuxes, only to find out they weren’t on the list. Sebastian Stan, who plays the character they created, had to get them in.

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The Guardian explains how these contracts work:

Comic creators are “work-for-hire”, so the companies they work for owe them nothing beyond a flat fee and royalty payments. But Marvel and DC also incentivise popular creators to stay on with the promise of steady work and what they call “equity”: a tiny share of the profits, should a character they create or a storyline they write become fodder for films, shows or merch. For some creators, work they did decades ago is providing vital income now as films bring their comics to a bigger audience; they reason – and the companies seem to agree – it’s only fair to pay them more. DC has a boilerplate internal contract, which the Guardian has seen, which guarantees payments to creators when their characters are used. Marvel’s contracts are similar, according to two sources with knowledge of them, but harder to find; some Marvel creators did not know they existed.

The whole report is very much worth reading as it breaks down the fraught history between the people who create comic book characters and the companies that profit off those creations. Read the whole article at The Guardian.

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