Marvel’s Old “Creative Committee” Tried to Gut GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY and James Gunn Wasn’t Having It

Before Guardians of the Galaxy became one of Marvel’s most charming and genuinely awesome success stories, director James Gunn had to navigate some frustrating issues with the studio.

Marvel Studio once had a “creative committee” that tossed out notes on films in development, and when Gunn was making his 2014 hit, that group tried to reshape the movie in some wild ways. What he revealed about that experience paints a pretty surprising picture of how close Guardians came to losing the personality that made audiences love it.

Before he was steering DC Studios, Gunn was known for making scrappy little offbeat films like the horror comedy Slither. Then Marvel tapped him to take on Guardians of the Galaxy, a gamble that paid off with one of the most distinct movies in the MCU.

The film’s mix of humor, cosmic spectacle, and emotional beats helped cement Gunn as a major director, and it proved that even Marvel’s lesser known heroes could lead a blockbuster.

But that final version we all loved almost didn’t happen. During a 2025 appearance on the Smartless podcast, Gunn explained that Marvel once had a group called the “creative committee” that was involved in shaping projects.

“There used to be something called the creative committee at Marvel,” he explained. “And it was comic book people and toy people and all these people that would chime in with their notes on scripts.”

Gunn clarified that he’s always open to receiving feedback. “You just have to listen to them, and people are usually happy if you just listen.” The problem was that this committee acted “as if they were the authority on everything.”

According to Gunn, he and Kevin Feige would finalize a script, only to receive “these lists of things that needed to be changed.” Gunn compared that experience to the medical drama The Knick, where brain surgeons have to operate while “having a bunch of podiatrists around telling you how to do it.”

What kind of changes did the committee want? Well, for starters, they wanted Gunn to cut the movie’s music entirely, which would have erased one of the most defining elements of Guardians.

They also questioned why Bradley Cooper was voicing Rocket Raccoon. Gunn recalled their reaction. “They saw the first cut and Bradley was doing Rocket's voice as a character,” he remembered.

“They're like, ‘Why do we pay all this money [...] he doesn't sound like Bradley Cooper?’ I'm like, ‘Yeah, he's playing a character. He's an actor. That's what the guy does. That's why we hired him.’”

Gunn said the committee gave him a list of “things that just had nothing to do with storytelling” and “nothing to do with what would capture people's imaginations.”

Thankfully, Feige backed Gunn, the music stayed, Cooper stayed, and the movie went on to define Marvel’s cosmic side.

Gunn also talked about how different his experience at DC Studios has been compared to his Marvel days. Working alongside Peter Safran, Gunn said the creative freedom is far greater. Surprisingly, he even praised Warner Bros. CEO David Zaslav, someone fans often criticize for his studio oversight.

“The only person we answer to [at DC Studios] is David Zaslav,” said Gunn. “And David Zaslav tells us if he likes something or he doesn't like something, but he doesn't have any sort of say [in the creative side]” though he added that Zaslav technically could if he wanted to.

Gunn described sending audition footage of Superman stars David Corenswet and Rachel Brosnahan to Zaslav. “They were so freaking good together, and I loved them,” Gunn said. “[…]I sent the tape off to David and I said, ‘Here's our two choices. Here's what we want to do.’

“And David called me up and he sounds really dour, and he goes, ‘You know, I have to preface this by saying this isn't what I do. This isn't what I know, I'm not a [...] movie creator. I'm not a storyteller like you are. This is just coming from a place of me as a person.’ And then he stopped and he goes, ‘I f*****g love it.’”

Gunn’s Superman was embraced as a wonderfully awesome and sincere take on the character, and with Man of Tomorrow on the way, it seems DC is more than happy to let him drive the ship without a committee breathing down his neck.

If Marvel’s old creative committee had gotten its way, Guardians of the Galaxy might have been an unrecognizable, lifeless project instead of the vibrant movie fans still cherish.

Gunn fought for the film’s weird heart, and that choice shaped not only the MCU but his entire trajectory as a filmmaker. Now that he’s running DC Studios with full creative trust, it’s clear that leaving him room to be himself is exactly what audiences respond to.