In addition to James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy movies taking a team that was obscure even among Marvel Comics fans and catapulting them to the same level of popularity that the Avengers and X-Men enjoy, they also boasted some great music moments thanks to the soundtracks the filmmaker put together. But some of the powers-that-be at Marvel Studios weren’t always convinced that Gunn’s song choices were the right move. In fact, these individuals initially called the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie’s soundtrack “ridiculous.”
Gunn shared this information while speaking with CinemaBlend’s own Hannah Saulic and other journalists during the junket roundtable for Peacemaker Season 2, which is now airing on the 2025 TV schedule. When Hannah asked the writer/director if people come up to him to say that they found their favorite band or musical artists from watching one of his movies, Gunn confirmed this does indeed happen, then said the following about what that’s like:
I mean, it's great. Like, one of the funny things is when we did the first Guardians movie, the guys at Marvel, not Kevin [Feige], but these other guys were all like, ‘This is ridiculous. Nobody's going to want to listen to these ‘70s AM pop songs. This is not something.’
From Blue Suede’s “Hooked on a Feeling” to The Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back,” Guardians of the Galaxy’s soundtrack featured a unique lineup of songs that were present in-universe on the mixtape that Peter Quill’s mother made for him. Yet despite these songs hailing from the ‘60s and ‘70s, the concerns from these executives proved to be unfounded. That’s because it was young people who were most taken with these tunes from the 10th MCU movie. Gunn continued:
And then it ends up that the people that are listening to it are 13 and 14 year olds. That's who it was most popular with. It wasn't the people that they thought it wasn’t going to be cool for. People have such a love for so many great bands and musicians that have happened over time that it's great to bring that out. I'm crazy about music, so I love turning people on to this.
This is a good reminder that exceptional art can appeal to people of many generations, regardless of when it was created. The following two Guardians of the Galaxy movies continued to incorporate songs from Peter Quill’s life through his mother’s second mixtape in Vol. 2, then the Zune that Yondu bequeathed him for Vol. 3. James Gunn’s DC projects, like the aforementioned Peacemaker, The Suicide Squad, and the 2025 movie release Superman, have also had memorable soundtracks. As a bonus for Gunn, using these songs in his movies and TV shows have allowed him to meet the people behind them, adding:
And now through this, I've met all these different bands and now I like them. Hang out with Mike Monroe from Hanoi Rocks or talking to the guys from Cruel Intentions all the time, or these bands that are featured in the Peacemaker season. And I think this is my favorite soundtrack ever, this season, from anything.
We’re only an episode into Peacemaker Season 2, so for James Gunn (who only directed three episodes this season) to be saying that this is his favorite soundtrack yet from one of his projects is a bold claim. As we hear these songs in the coming weeks, remember that the Guardians of the Galaxy movies, as well as the franchise’s Holiday Special, can be streamed with a Disney+ subscription.
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