Superheroes Should Be Flawed & Funny w/ James Gunn

Tom Segura (0:05)

We have great news. My regular co-host isn't here. And so sitting in front of him is a prolific filmmaker, a sentence you don't normally hear on this show. But we're super stoked to have him. So give it up real big for James Gunn, everybody.

James Gunn (0:23)

Oh, listen to those claps. I'm excited. I don't think I can feel Bert shoes.

Tom Segura (0:28)

You should hear their normal claps. It's usually like...

James Gunn (0:30)

Really like, yeah, it's really sad.

Tom Segura (0:32)

That was genuine. They're big fans, man.

James Gunn (0:34)

Wow, that's cool.

Tom Segura (0:34)

Everybody hears a big fan.

James Gunn (0:35)

And I'm a big fan of yours. Well, thank you. As you well know, I've contacted you on Twitter saying how great you are, or one of those things. I don't know.

Tom Segura (0:42)

You're very kind. Just to reiterate to everybody, Peacemaker is on HBO or Max or Max HBO, whatever fucking name they've chosen this week. It's airing Thursdays at nine. Wait, it comes out at a certain time?

James Gunn (0:57)

It comes out at nine o'clock. People watch it at nine o'clock.

Tom Segura (1:00)

That's like old school, like when they give you a time.

James Gunn (1:03)

It is. I mean, obviously you can still watch it at 9.15 or 9.20, but at nine is when it drops. It drops at nine.

Tom Segura (1:10)

It's in its second season. I gotta say, dude, I was, first of all, there's so many goddamn shows now. Like, you know, when we were growing up, they were like, there's four shows. Like, you just could kind of go through shows. You knew every movie, because there was like a campaign for a movie. And like, you know, to catch up on things, it's kind of mind-blowing. It is a really fucking fun watch. Like, Peacemaker is really fun. I was actually, I gotta say, I was kind of blown away at, not just like what a fun ride it is, but like watching Cena, he's-

James Gunn (1:45)

He's so good.

Tom Segura (1:46)

He's so good.

James Gunn (1:47)

Yeah, no, and this season, I mean, so we did the first, you know, going way back, the reason I wanted to do Peacemaker was because of my relationship with John working with him on The Suicide Squad.

Tom Segura (1:59)

Yeah.

James Gunn (2:00)

And I saw something in him that was so, I knew he was a good actor, and we did the first season of Peacemaker, and we worked on that a lot, and since then he's gone off and he's acted, you know, in more things between the two seasons of Peacemaker than he had before that, and the change in him from season one to season two and what he's capable of has been an incredible thing to watch.

Tom Segura (2:23)

So it's notable to you, like as the, yeah.

James Gunn (2:26)

Oh yeah, it's completely notable to me. He's, you know, really gone to a place where, I mean, there's a scene in episode one of this season where I'm like, you know, he's meeting his brother from another dimension who's dead in our dimension, and you know, he walks out of the room, and I say, I think you break down crying, you know, John. I said, don't worry about really crying, just like, you know, put your head in your hands and like, you know, heave. And immediately, he just, the guy walks out, David Denman, who plays his brother, walks out of the room, and John just has these tears spill down his face, and I'm like, what is going on? This is not the same guy who I worked with four years ago on the first season, who was like, had this scene where he was supposed to be crying in bed, and he was terrified to do it because he'd never done anything like that in his life. He's just, he's much more comfortable in his own skin.

Tom Segura (3:15)

Yeah, that's really cool to watch. To see someone evolve and get better at their craft, basically.

James Gunn (3:21)

How do you, I mean, you, so you're acting now, obviously.

Tom Segura (3:23)

I'm acting now, yes.

James Gunn (3:24)

And how do you like that? How do you like the...

Tom Segura (3:26)

Well, kind of like, I know that you moved to LA when you first, this was to pursue music, right?

James Gunn (3:35)

No, I moved, no. To pursue music, I made the really wise choice of moving to Tucson, Arizona.

Tom Segura (3:42)

Oh, that's the music haven.

James Gunn (3:43)