Guardians of the Galaxy’s James Gunn Compares His Movies to Nirvana Songs

“I always like to think that I make movies that are like Nirvana songs,” Gunn said. “They have a slow verse and then they pop into high gear and then they go back into slow and then they pop into high gear again. So you get the space, you get the softer emotions, you get the more tender moments and then you go really fast and hard as much as you can.  And then you get to play in-between those two different [sides]. I don’t really like movies that are all one or the other. It’s really about the play between both of them. Now that I’ve said that, there’s actually lots of movies that I like that are one or the other but it’s just not for me as a filmmaker.”

He also touched on a number of topics he’s already discussed before, including how much freedom he had from Marvel to make the movie he wanted to make, how “dark” the movie is and the fact that the movie was always shot in 3D.

You can check out the full video interview, including a few awkward moments between Gunn and the interviewer, below.

Guardians of the Galaxy will be in theaters on August 1. The press tour starts on July 7, the same day a preview screening of 17 minutes from the film will play in select U.S. theaters for free.