All 7 James Gunn Superhero Movies, Ranked

If you’ve been hearing the name James Gunn lately, it’s likely because he’s now leading the DC cinematic universe alongside Peter Safran, and/or because he’s also directed the latest Superman, released in 2025. That film isn’t technically the first thing in this somewhat rebooted DC Universe, but it is the first major entry as far as theatrical releases go, so it’s kind of a big deal.

Of all the films he’s directed to date, most classify as superhero films in one way or another (the only two exceptions being the comedic horror movie Slither, and the terrible anthology film Movie 43, of which Gunn only directed one segment). In anticipation of Superman (2025), here are all those Gunn-directed movies that can be classified as superhero flicks, ranked below, starting with the decent and ending with the great.

7

‘The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special’ (2022)

Starring: Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, Pom Klementieff

Okay, there’s an argument this one shouldn’t be counted among all the other James Gunn-directed superhero movies, given it’s sort of the 2020s equivalent of a TV movie, going straight to Disney+ and all. It’s also only 40-ish minutes long, so it’s hardly feature-length or anything in any event. Still, The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special is canon, like it or not. It’s also part of the overall Guardians of the Galaxy series, is stylistically and tonally in line with the other films, and proves decently charming for what it is.

Of course, what it is isn’t as good as the full movies, so it is inevitably going to end up in last place. It’s fluffy, lightweight, and broadly funny, capturing the Christmas spirit well while telling a story about kidnapping Kevin Bacon. You could go watch the other movies featuring the Guardians without this Holiday Special and still generally get what’s going on, but it’s a nice breather episode of sorts, and fleshes a couple of characters out a little more: namely, Drax and Mantis. Could be better, could be worse. It’s The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special; nothing more, nothing less.

6

‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’ (2023)

Starring: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldaña, Dave Bautista

This might be a controversial opinion, but of the three main Guardians of the Galaxy movies, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is the weakest. Part of that might not entirely be James Gunn’s fault, though. Anyone following movie-related news back in the late 2010s will remember how Vol. 3 was temporarily postponed after Marvel effectively fired James Gunn for reasons they eventually realized weren’t really worth firing someone over. Also in the late 2010s, Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame utilized the Guardians characters in fairly surprising ways that naturally reshaped what Gunn could do with the characters in his third and final film about them.

Given the delays and the other circumstances, Vol. 3 works pretty well as a send-off for the Guardians of the Galaxy, being one of those rewarding bittersweet kind of endings that proves to be much heavier on the sweet than the bitter. The heavier moments aren’t balanced as well with the lighter ones compared to the other two Guardians of the Galaxy films, and the whole thing is a tad overlong, not to mention not as visually appealing as the other two (it kind of looks a bit cheap, or not as inherently cinematic as the other two… maybe it’s the use of color?). But the stuff that works here really works, and it’s still a good conclusion to what ended up being an impressive trilogy.

Watch on Disney+

5

‘Super’ (2010)

Starring: Rainn Wilson, Elliot Page, Liv Tyler

Though he’s since been associated with both Marvel and DC, the first James Gunn movie that could conceivably be called a superhero movie existed outside either one of those well-established universes. It was, instead, a darkly funny, twisted, and exceedingly gory film called Super, focusing on a vigilante who views himself as a superhero, even if a lot of the time, his heroics involve smashing people in their heads with a wrench, sometimes for only doing slightly wrong things.

A decade and a half on, Super is the perfect halfway point between the superhero blockbusters Gunn became well-known for directing in the 2010s and 2020s, and the sorts of schlocky, violent, bad-taste movies he had a hand in writing (namely, Tromeo & Juliet) when he was younger. It’s amazing to watch something so different from his later movies about superheroes, given Super deconstructs and grimly parodies (in a way) the sort of movie that would make Gunn a household name. It’s not a movie for everyone, and is probably a tough sell, but it’s bold, punchy, sometimes hilarious, and overall very memorable.

4

‘Superman’ (2025)

Starring: David Corenswet, Rachel Brosnahan, Nicholas Hoult

It might well be the case that there’ll never be a Superman movie quite as good as the 1978 one that starred Christopher Reeve, but 2025’s Superman comes pretty close. Despite the title, and a new actor (David Corenswet) playing a new iteration of the titular character, Superman (2025) is refreshingly not another origin story. Like The Batman (2022), it assumes audiences will already know the basics going in, and so Superman kind of throws you into things in a way that’s almost jarring. Most of the characters are familiar with each other, the people of Metropolis are very much used to wild sci-fi things happening around them, Lex Luthor is already well-established and hateful of Superman, and Superman/Clark Kent is already a few months into a relationship with Lois Lane. It’s not an utterly overwhelming number of things to keep up with, but early on, Superman does feel like it’s having a bit of a struggle when it comes to everything it wants to juggle.

Superman has an approach to world-building that is a little disorientating early on, but ends up working more as the film progresses.

But things settle into a groove about a third into the movie, and some of the baffling things that happen early on do make sense once they’re paid off later. It’s going for a crowd-pleaser sort of thing, and that’s a perfectly fine approach for a blockbuster like this to take, especially when it is likely going to please most people in most crowds. You’ll never make 100% of people 100% happy, especially when the last iteration of Superman and the DCEU ended rather abruptly, but this is a solid reboot of sorts. It also avoids some of the problems with by-the-numbers reboots owing to that sense of things already having taken place before the movie starts. It’s a way of world-building that, as mentioned before, is a little disorientating early on, but ends up working more as the film progresses. It feels oddly natural at a point, and hopefully, most will end up clicking with what Superman is going for.

There have been better and braver superhero movies released over the last few decades, sure, and Superman – though it takes a couple of risks – probably isn’t going to be considered one of the very best of the best. It largely plays things safe, but with just enough that’s weird and unexpected to keep people who might otherwise feel a little burned out by superhero movies on their toes. And, as a James Gunn movie, it is pretty restrained and steady, for lack of a better word. He’s not trying to reinvent the wheel or blow anyone’s mind too much here, but it’s probably the right approach to take long-term. It’s a bit like the first Avengers movie in that regard. That one didn’t take the sorts of risks the likes of Infinity War or Endgame took, but it was approachable, likable, and solid broad entertainment that proved to be a foundation that slightly riskier later Avengers movies (plus other entries in the MCU) could build off. Superman might not be wild or absolutely amazing/game-changing, but it’ll likely be seen as a good start for this new DC cinematic universe as the years go on, and the size of said cinematic universe expands.

3

‘The Suicide Squad’ (2021)

Starring: Margot Robbie, Idris Elba, John Cena

The Suicide Squad has a similar demented sense of humor and willingness to get violent as Super, but feels overall a bit more refined and palatable. As such, it’s easier to call it a genuinely great superhero movie, rather than a cult classic that will hit for some people while deterring others. The Suicide Squad is also noteworthy for being Gunn’s first outing in the DC universe, coming out between the second and third Guardians of the Galaxy movies he made for Marvel.

Like 2016’s less successful Suicide Squad, The Suicide Squad sees a group of antiheroes banding together to take on a suicide mission, with the promise that they’ll be granted freedom if they succeed and survive. But it does that premise right this time around, and ends up being a ton of fun, cleverly finding chances to be sentimental and a little emotional among all the scenes of violence and moments of admittedly funny crude humor.

2

‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2’ (2017)

Starring: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldaña, Dave Bautista

It might not be a sequel that exceeds its predecessor in terms of quality, but Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 comes surprisingly close; certainly close enough for it to be a great sequel, in any event. After building up a rapport in the first movie, certain tensions threaten to tear the Guardians apart in a Joy Division + love kind of way. Much of that’s because Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) learns certain things in this film about his father (Kurt Russell), with such revelations best left unspoiled.

Other characters are all going through their own stuff here, too, in generally moving and emotionally resonant ways. That being said, Baby Groot is having a pretty good time, for the most part, in turn bringing some levity to the somewhat more emotionally taxing story this time around. Because it gets sadder than the first movie, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 isn’t quite as tonally balanced, but the funny stuff’s mostly funny, and the emotional stuff’s mostly emotional. Elsewhere, the character interactions, visuals, and song selections all prove pleasing, too.

1

‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ (2014)

Starring: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldaña, Dave Bautista

Yes, the original Guardians of the Galaxy – one of the most popular and endlessly rewatchable modern-day sci-fi movies – is the best James Gunn superhero movie to date, and by a decently comfortable margin, too. The way it more or less came out of nowhere and proved genuinely surprising upon its release in 2014 plays a role in that, sure. It was a movie about previously obscure heroes – themselves perhaps rejects, as far as pop culture was concerned – coming together and forming a powerful unit. Their success in the narrative was reflected in the movie’s overall success.

“Household names” were referred to earlier, but James Gunn became a high-profile director thanks to Guardians of the Galaxy, and the main characters themselves also became names of the household variety. It’s hard to imagine a Marvel Cinematic Universe without the Guardians now, but before 2014, the opposite was true; it was hard to imagine the MCU having the Guardians in it. Gunn made these characters work, gave them all a great first outing, and the resulting film – Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) – remains something of a minor/modern classic a decade on from its initial release.

NEXT: Every Movie With Henry Cavill’s Superman, Ranked