Though the Internet would have you believe that Marvel and DC’s respective fanbases are diametrically opposed, and that one must pledge allegiance to one comic book titan or the other, there’s something to be said about appreciating all kinds of comic book entertainment, regardless of whether it involves Marvel’s man in the can or the Caped Crusader of Gotham.
James Gunn certainly thinks so, too. With production now underway on The Suicide Squad, Gunn took a moment to reflect on his own cinematic journey – a journey spanning both Marvel Studios and DC Films – before drawing attention to the fact that DC and the House of Ideas will always share a common goal: to create “heartfelt, spectacular, and innovative entertainment.”
The filmmaker took to Twitter to share a gift given to him by his peers at Marvel Studios – namely Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Mary Livanos, and Jonathan Schwartz – and reminded fans that, yes, it is possible to like both Marvel and DC.
Starting production on #TheSuicideSquad, I received perhaps the coolest and sweetest start-of-production gift ever, along with a note of how excited they are for the movie from Kevin, Lou, Victoria, Mary and Jonathan at @marvelstudios. They made me this incredible scrapbook of our journey so far on #GuardiansoftheGalaxy. It’s a thick tome packed with memories that brought a tear to my eye.
Gunn continued:
As I’ve said so many times, at the end of the day, Marvel and DC fans have a lot more in common than they do not. I am now and have been for almost all my life, both. Maybe you like one more than the other – that’s cool – but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy them all or that you have to tear the other down. I know that I and my partners at both Marvel and DC believe that what’s good for one studio is generally good for all: spurring each other on daily with heartfelt, spectacular, and innovative entertainment that keeps audiences around the world loving movies based on or inspired by sequential art. Let’s go, team(s).
The Guardians of the Galaxy director initially landed his Suicide Squad gig shortly after being fired by Disney for a series of old (and fairly controversial) tweets. Alas, in what was an extraordinary u-turn, the House of Mouse rehired Gunn to spearhead Vol. 3 of Guardians of the Galaxy, which is expected to begin filming shortly after The Suidie Squad makes its mark on the global box office.
Expect the latter to arrive guns blazing in 2021 – the same year as The Batman – with Guardians Vol. 3 tentatively slated for the following year. Which is *checks papers* just beyond the parameters of MCU Phase 4.
