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James Gunn helped steer the Marvel Cinematic Universe as we know it with his Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy, but he now admits that he never truly understood Marvel’s approach to “phases” in its overarching story. Gunn looked back at his career highlights in a new interview with GQ, explaining how he had landed the gig directing the MCU’s Guardians, and even revealing the large part he played in shaping the Infinity Saga storyline. However, when it came to his movies’ placement in Phase Two, Phase Three, and Phase Five respectively, he had no real insight on why those breaks are placed where they are.
“I never understood what any of the phases were in Marvel,” Gunn admitted. “I don’t know what any of it means, like, I have no clue what it means. I have no clue what any of that stuff ever meant.” Gunn was talking about the introduction of the Infinity Stones in his first MCU movie, explaining that Marvel Studios requested a scene about these powerful artifacts. Gunn wrote the scene with the Collector (Benicio del Toro) himself, though he had no idea how central they’d be to the franchise going forward.
According to Gunn, the studio had been toying with ideas for crossovers, and had decided to establish the Infinity Stones only after they had appeared in previous movies. Once they had settled on that direction, they asked Gunn to explain it in his movie, and to make one of the stones the centerpiece of his story. Gunn said that he wrote his explanation for the stones in about three minutes, and apparently, it wasn’t changed drastically by anyone else.
Even then, there was some confusion, as Gunn said he had believed the Infinity Stone in his movie would be red. However, by then Marvel had decided that the object in Thor: The Dark World would be an Infinity Stone as well, and it was already red. Gunn was forced to change his to purple in post-production.
Marvel’s designation of “phases” has become a bit hard to follow over the years. Phase One seemed straightforward, as it concluded with the franchise’s first team-up movie, The Avengers. Phase Two seemed to reach its crescendo with Avengers: Age of Ultron, but Ant-Man was also included, suggesting that the timing of release was a factor. Finally, Phase Three was much longer, bringing the Infinity Saga to a close.
The breaking points between these phases have been less obvious in the Multiverse Saga, not least of all because of the inclusion of TV shows. Phase Five actually ended just this month with the conclusion of Ironheart. It makes sense for a phase to end with Thunderbolts*, though because it came in the middle of a busy summer for Marvel, it contradicts the idea that the release date plays a part.
However the phases are divided, piecing together all the details in Marvel’s grand-scale stories. Gunn’s Supermanhits theaters on Friday, July 11th, while the MCU returns to theaters with The Fantastic Four: First Steps on July 25th.
“}]] James Gunn helped steer the Marvel Cinematic Universe as we know it with his Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy, but he now admits that he never truly understood Marvel’s approach to “phases” in its overarching story. Gunn looked back at his career highlights in a new interview with GQ, explaining how he had landed the Read More