While James Gunn deservedly takes most of the credit for turning the Guardians of the Galaxy from lower-tier comic book characters into worldwide cultural icons and the stars of a multi-billion dollar Marvel Cinematic Universe trilogy, the contributions of Nicole Perlman should never go overlooked.
She was the screenwriter to delivered the initial draft of the script, and as much as it was heavily rewritten once Gunn came on board to direct, plenty of her ideas remain part of not just the opening chapter, but the entire Guardians saga. These days, Perlman is happy to let the current co-CEO of DC Studios have his cake and eat it, but that wasn’t always the case.
In fact, new book MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios reveals that Gunn was reportedly adamant against Perlman receiving a credit on Guardians of the Galaxy. Not only that, but when Perlman emerged victorious in an arbitration dispute over the matter with the WGA, she even threw what was described as a “f*ck James Gunn party” in celebration.
X-Men: First Class co-writer Zack Stentz (who faced a similar situation with Matthew Vaughn) is even quoted as saying “when Matthew Vaughn decided to have a temper tantrum over the fact that we got screen credit, at least he did it under his own name,” blasting Gunn and insinuating that he was “very clearly selectively leaking stuff to his friends and the fanboy media circles to undermine her credit.”
Based on the response from longtime SnyderVerse stalwarts anytime Gunn does anything in his role as the franchise’s creative figurehead, don’t be surprised if “f*ck James Gunn” parties become a regular occurrence on the other side of the comic book divide.
