James Gunn will deliver the commencement address at Saint Louis University this spring. If you don’t immediately know who James Gunn is, he directed the Guardians of the Galaxy films, and also the new Superman movie, and also wrote some things in the 1990s that were considerably less family-friendly than any of that.

It is an interesting choice for a Jesuit university’s graduation ceremony, and probably a great one. Gunn grew up Catholic, has spoken openly about his complicated relationship with faith, and has made a career out of making the strange and the broken feel like they belong. Which, if you think about it, is a very St. Louis thing to do.

Saint Louis University was founded in 1818 — the oldest university west of the Mississippi. It has survived everything this city has thrown at it. James Gunn survived Hollywood, which is arguably harder.

The graduates of 2026 could do worse than to spend their last few minutes as students being told something true by someone who figured it out the strange way.