James Gunn at the UK premiere of Superman
James Gunn has become the undisputed leader of the DCU, but his filmmaking career actually kickstarted in Hollywood 20 years ago. Gunn has taken creative control of the DC Comics world for Warner Bros.
and has gotten off to a great start with Superman in 2025 and Supergirl coming out in 2026. This comes 20 years after he directed his first movie. While Gunn had a few years of screenwriting in his past, both at the most successful indie filmmaking studio for cult classics, and then alongside Zack Snyder, he showed his talent behind the camera with the movie Slither. This was a horror movie that showed a mix of his past and what would come later with comic book movies. James Gunn Made His Directorial Debut With Slither James Gunn made his directorial debut 20 years ago with the movie Slither, which hit theaters on March 31, 2006. Slither starred Nathan Fillion as Police Chief Bill Pardy in a small South Carolina town where an alien infection starts transforming people into monsters. Gunn not only directed the movie, but he wrote the script. Along with Fillion, the movie also stars Michael Rooker as a wealthy local resident named Grant who the alien parasite infects first, while Elizabeth Banks stars as his wife Starla. The movie then becomes a tale of body horror, with Grant becoming a horrendously grotesque monster creature that Starla and Bill have to stop before he infects or kills the whole town. Despite a lower budget of $15 million, Slither was a box office failure, only making $12.9 million while in theaters. However, as with movies of this type, Slither found its success on home video, where it grew in popularity and became a beloved cult classic. Despite the low box office, critics loved it, with an 87% RT score. While Slither earned several comparisons to the 1986 horror film, Night of the Creeps, James Gunn added enough of his own personal touches to make it stand on its own. For his part, Gunn said he was influenced by 80s horror comedies, as well as 70s movies like Shivers and The Brood. At its heart, Slither was a love letter to B-grade horror movies, while it was also a chance for James Gunn to prove that even B-grade horror could hold the traits of mainstream horror movies in quality. This was the movie that helped put James Gunn on the map and it plotted his path to the top of Hollywood. James Gunn Had A Most Unusual Start To His Movie Career It should have come to no surprise that the first movie that James Gunn directed was Slither. While the first blockbuster movie he wrote in Hollywood was surprisingly Scooby-Doo, his first was an indie superhero movie called The Specials and the third was the Zack Snyder horror remake, Dawn of the Dead. When looking at Slither, it was easy to see a mix of several of these movies, with the horror of Dawn of the Dead and the quirky indie nature of The Specials. However, what really stands out from this movie was where James Gunn got his start. Gunn opened his career working for the Lloyd Kaufman indie studio, Troma. Not only that, but Gunn wrote one of the best movies Troma ever produced, the brilliant Tromeo and Juliet. Based on Romeo and Juliet, Gunn took the ideas from the Shakespeare play and transported the story to modern-day Manhattan. This was not only Troma's best movie, but one of the best indie movies of the 90s. How Slither Fits In With James Gunn's Superhero Movies Not only did Slither pay respect to where James Gunn came from, but it also opened the door for what he did in his superhero movie career. In fact, Slither was the only non-comic book movie James Gunn ever directed. He followed it with the original superhero movie Super and then moved on to the MCU. Subscribe for Filmmaker & DCU Insights from the Newsletter Explore the creative arcs behind filmmakers and franchises—subscribe to the newsletter for in-depth analysis of creators like James Gunn, DCU developments, and the links between cult films and mainstream studio work. Get Updates By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime. With Guardians of the Galaxy, Gunn took his brilliant comedy and concept for filmmaking and his love of music and implemented both into his movies. Gunn also hired actors to return to work for him, including Nathan Fillion, who appeared in all three Guardians of the Galaxy movies and Michael Rooker, who played Yondu. Since joining the DCU and creating his world there, he has used a lot of his trademark filmmaking techniques there, including in the streaming shows like Peacemaker and the animated Creature Commandos. It all started 20 years ago with James Gunn's Slither. 6.3/10 7/10 Slither 10 stars 9 stars 8 stars 7 stars 6 stars 5 stars 4 stars 3 stars 2 stars 1 star Like Follow Followed R Sci-Fi Comedy Horror Release Date March 31, 2006 Runtime 95 minutes Director James Gunn Writers James Gunn Cast See All
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