Ex Marvel Writer Says He Came Up with Major MCU Lore in Just Minutes

Fresh off the premiere of “Superman,” the film’s director, James Gunn – known for his work on Marvel Studios film projects like the “Guardians of the Galaxy” trilogy, looked back on his MCU career during a July 13 interview with GQ. 

Celebrating stellar reviews and raking in more than $217 million at the box office globally since its July 11 release date, Gunn once more proved his prowess in bringing iconic comic book characters to the silver screen, following success on projects like “The Suicide Squad,” “Peacemaker” and even the 2002 live-action adaptation of “Scooby-Doo” starring Sarah Michelle Gellar and Freddie Prince Jr. 

Gunn Recalls Working on ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’

Despite his directorial work for other franchises, however, Gunn is primarily remembered for his work as both a director and screenwriter for the ever-expanding Marvel Cinematic Universe, which began with his work on the first “Guardians of the Galaxy” film in 2014. 

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In addition to introducing now-legendary heroes like Starlord (Chris Pratt), Gamora (Zoe Saldana) and Drax (Dave Bautista), the film also featured the first mention of Infinity Stones in the MCU. Though the cosmically powered stones played a major role in the MCU’s “Infinity Saga,” which came to an end with 2019’s “Avengers: Endgame,” Gunn told GQ that it only took him minutes to come about with the now-essential Marvel lore. 

The Infinity Stones, six immensely powerful gems with their ability to grant their holder control over Time, Space, Reality, Power, Soul and Mind, made their original debut in Marvel Comics in 1972, decades before the Space Stone and Mind Stone appeared in “Thor” and “The Avengers,” respectively. At the time, however, the glowing power sources housed within the Tessercat and Loki’s scepter weren’t official Infinity Stones until Gunn joined the MCU. 

Gunn Opens Up About Writing MCU’s Infinity Stones Lore

While working on “Guardians Vol. 1,” Gunn told GQ that he was approached by Marvel executives, who tasked him with incorporating the remaining legendary stones into the existing lore of the MCU.

“I knew there were Infinity Stones when they said, ‘You know, we’ve been thinking, and we think that maybe some of these things have been Infinity Stones in different ways. And so, could you write up what the Infinity Stones mean?’” revealed Gunn. The Stones subsequently celebrated their first official mention in “Guardians,” which similarly unveiled the Power Stone, with the ability to manipulate energy and increase its bearer’s strength. 

“When I wrote the scene with The Collector, explaining that there was this explosion, and the Infinity Stones were born, and what they mean and where they come from, that was literally just me sitting down for 3 minutes and writing that,” Gunn bragged. 

“And that’s then what became the rest of the Infinity Stones. There was never anybody that said anything other than, ‘I think the red thing and the blue thing are going to end up being Infinity Stones.’ That wasn’t in the plan to begin with,” he continued. 

The remaining Infinity Stones were later introduced in “Thor: The Dark World” (Reality Stone), “Avengers: Age of Ultron” (Mind Stone) and “Doctor Strange” (Mind Stone). In “Avengers: Infinity Wars,” the Stones were wielded by Thanos against the Avengers, ultimately leading to half of all life in the universe being ‘snapped’ out of existence. 

While Gunn has since left Marvel to join the newly-launched DCU, based on the superheroes of DC Comics, the MCU is alive and well, celebrating recent releases like “The Thunderbolts” in theaters and “Ironheart” on Disney+. The latest MCU film, “The Fantastic Four: First Steps,” is set to premiere on July 24, 2025.