James Gunn Makes Ridiculous Claim That He Created Marvel’s Infinity Stone Saga
James Gunn claimed he created the infinity stones in 90 minutes over lunch.
If you’re a fan of comic book movies, you’re likely already a fan of James Gunn’s illustrious output with both Marvel and DC studios, creating such films as The Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy and 2021’s The Suicide Squad. Gunn’s status as a hit filmmaker may have gone to his head, however, as Comicbook.com reports an absurd claim made by the DC creative head that he was responsible for creating the Infinity Saga of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. James Gunn joked in a recent interview that he whipped up the entire backstory of each infinity stone as well as their function in an hour and a half while writing Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1, despite the stones having existed in the MCU prior to the film, as well as existing for decades in the comics.
Perhaps the Peacemaker director is feeling a bit overworked, having recently pivoted to running the creative department of the DC universe following the release of his final MCU film, Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3. Alternatively, perhaps James Gunn was only kidding about his role in the creation of Marvel’s longest running storyline put to film thus far, as he can be seen stifling laughter throughout the interview alongside his Guardians cast including Chris Pratt, Will Poulter, Karen Gillan, and Pom Klementieff. Regardless, it doesn’t take an obsessive Marvel super-fan to debunk this obvious falsehood.
The first appearance of an infinity stone within the MCU dates back to 2011 when Red Skull sought the space stone for his nefarious Hydra schemes in Captain America: The First Avenger. After exchanging hands a number of times, the stone, which was locked inside the glowing blue cube known as the Tesseract, was returned safely home to Asgard or stolen by Loki during the events of Avengers: Endgame, depending on the timeline continuity you’re currently following. James Gunn wouldn’t be hired to write and direct Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 1 until early 2012, months after The First Avenger premiered on the big screen.
Thanos first appeared in the MCU during a post-credits cameo in 2012’s The Avengers, officially kicking the events of the Infinity Saga into gear long before his official arrival on Earth in Infinity War. To James Gunn’s credit, Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 1 was the first film to feature Josh Brolin as the Mad Titan, bringing Thanos and his plot to wipe out half of all life in the universe to center stage. Gunn also initially planned for Thanos to have a much larger role in the film but was vetoed by Joss Whedon, who maintained overarching control of the film series at that time.
While James Gunn absolutely had a hand in crafting the Infinity Saga as we know it today through his contributions to the MCU, he obviously did not create the saga single-handedly, much less in the span of an hour and a half. Of course, the entirety of the MCU adapts the Marvel comic books, which contain references to the infinity stones dating back to 1972.
