James Gunn has taken over as the lead of the new DC Cinematic Universe alongside Peter Safran. The duo has already announced their slate for the first chapter of this new DCU, the chapter is set to be called Gods and Monsters and features a number of projects. Among them are live-action and animated TV series and some major films.

Related:DC Characters We Want To See In The DCU

The first official project in the DCU slate is a Superman film, set to be called Superman: Legacy and Gunn has said officially that he is currently writing this film. As such, it is an interesting time to look back on previous projects which have been penned by the Guardians of the Galaxy director.

7 Scooby-Doo (2002)

The live action Scooby Doo cast in the van

The live-action Scooby-Doo film was one of the earliest notable films to be written by Gunn. The future director hadn’t gotten a foothold in that world yet but managed to take a beloved franchise and turn it on its head in a fascinating way with his writing of the 2002 Scooby-Doo film.

Taking Daphne, Fred, Shaggy, and Velma alongside the lovable, titular talking canine, this movie was set on an island amusement park where the gang was brought back together as adults to solve a strange mystery that harkens back to their past as a gang of mystery solvers. A delightful and much-beloved take on the classic franchise, Scooby-Doo was an early triumph in Gunn’s writing career.

6 The Belko Experiment

The Belko Experiment Image

An intriguing, more recent, very experimental type of horror film which Gunn again wrote without directing, The Belko Experiment featured a group of office workers locked in their company’s headquarters and ordered to kill each other under threat of death. An intriguing premise led to a fascinating film that didn’t manage huge box office numbers but helped inspire other social experiment movies.

Gunn’s writing was a particularly interesting concept that showcased the potential of ideas and horror movies in this vein, which are gaining more popularity in Europe particularly. With a fun cast and great writing from Gunn, The Belko Experiment is still definitely a horror worth checking out.

5 Dawn Of The Dead

Dawn Of The Dead Image

Another early case in his career when Gunn hadn’t begun to do as much directing work, Dawn of the Dead was a remake of the classic George A Romero zombie films made by Zack Snyder. While Gunn and Snyder are both notable for their more recent, contradictory, efforts in and around the DC cinematic slate, Dawn of the Dead was an excellent collaboration between them.

Set in the titular, memorable shopping mall where a group of survivors from a zombie apocalypse takes refuge, Dawn of the Dead focuses as much on the problems fighting against hordes of the undead as it does the problems coming from within. This way of tackling the film put plenty of emphasis on the excellent writing by Gunn, which remains one of his most memorable endeavors.

4 Slither

Slither Image

The first feature-length film that Gunn directed, he also wrote this strange horror film and created the first concoction of what is recognizable today as a true James Gunn movie. With his blend of humor, horror, and thrills all soaked into the weirdness of this film, Slither is a brilliantly lovable comedy-horror.

Related:Underrated Body Horror Movies

Starring a great ensemble cast, another notable addition to several major Gunn movies, Slither took on 1950s horror and sci-fi movies to make a blackly comedic masterpiece about a strange life form that lands on a meteorite in a small South Carolina town. Slither spread the word around Hollywood that James Gunn was on his way up, and it was no surprise that he’d later get picked to do some major Hollywood motion pictures.

3 The Suicide Squad

The Suicide Squad Image

Innately Gunn, by the time he arrived on the scene with DC and their messy cinematic outings to date, James Gunn had already done great things on the other side of the aisle with Marvel. Bringing every bit of his dark humor, great action, and love of ensembles, Gunn put together one of the best DC films to date in The Suicide Squad.

Kicking away somewhat from the previous Suicide Squad film attempt, some characters returned but most were new in Gunn’s incarnation of the team. The Suicide Squad pits a variety of former villains against a giant starfish in Central America in what is one of the strangest, most immediately beloved R-Rated superhero films of all time.

2 Super

Super Image

Again black comedy, again superhero, Super was Gunn’s first foray into the genre as he took a humorous story about an ordinary man whose wife leaves him and turned him into a vigilante that decides to start fighting crime. One of the earlier deconstructions of the superhero genre, and comparable to Kick-Ass for the hilarious way it tackles heroes, Super garnered a lot of attention at the time.

Another great cast included Rainn Wilson, Elliot Page, Liv Tyler, and Kevin Bacon, Super was a small film that gained a lot of cult following and possibly led to Marvel contacting Gunn for a project which would shift the level of his career forever.

1 Guardians Of The Galaxy

Guardians Of The Galaxy Image

In the quintessential James Gunn film, both from a writing and directing standpoint, Guardians of the Galaxy is the best example of what Gunn is capable of as he begins to tackle the DC Universe. Taking a small, unknown group of heroes and turning them into one of the most beloved teams on the planet in the space of two hours runtime is a feat almost unparalleled in the genre.

Peter Quill, Gamora, Groot, Drax, and Rocket weren’t completely unknown heroes to Marvel Comics fanatics, but they had almost no box office appeal before Gunn, his incredible soundtrack, his heartfelt writing, and his hilarious comedic styling arrived on the scene. Guardians remain Gunn’s baby, and this project will be remembered as one of his and the MCU’s best forever.

More:Unforgettable Action-Comedy Movies