11 Directors Who Need To Helm A Marvel Or DC Movie

Due to the increasing success of superhero films, more and more critically acclaimed directors are flocking to make movies about people in capes and tights, when just ten to fifteen years ago such a move might have meant career suicide. For instance, Marvel have nabbed both Ryan Coogler of Creed and What We Do In the Shadows’ Taika Waititi for Phase Three of their cinematic universe. Meanwhile, DC have got talent like James Wan and Rick Famuyiwa to helm Aquaman and The Flash, respectively. But what other directors would we love to see helm a Marvel or DC movie sometime in the near future? From Oscar winners to those who have been close to making a comic book film in the past, here are our 10 picks. If you have another, be sure to let us know in the usual place. 11) George Miller Let’s start with one that fans really, really want. Back in the mid-to-late 2000s, Mad Max director George Miller was attached to helm a Justice League movie, with Armie Hammer as Batman, D.J. Cotrona as Superman and Common as Green Lantern. However, the project eventually fell through and now, Zack Snyder will be the director attached to Justice League when it arrives next year. After Miller delivered one of the best action films in recent years with Mad Max: Fury Road, many are desperate for him to rekindle his attachment to DC. A common idea is for him to handle Man of Steel 2, though the director himself has quashed this rumour in the past. Sadly, it looks like the ship has sailed on that one, but hey, you never know. 10) Kathryn Bigelow Like Miller, Kathryn Bigelow almost took the reins of a superhero project in the past. Back in the early 1990s, she was to direct an X-Men movie, with her then husband James Cameron producing. Since then, her career has gone from strength to strength, with her finest hour coming when she became the first woman to win the Best Director gong at the 2009 Oscars for The Hurt Locker. Given that, it would be fascinating to see Bigelow helm a comic book film for real this time. Considering her back catalogue of gritty action-packed thrillers, we can see her fitting in with DC’s generally darker aesthetic. In fact, she would have been a good pick for the WW1-set Wonder Woman movie, but that film has gone to Patty Jenkins instead. 9) Brad Bird Brad Bird is responsible for giving us one of the most outright fun superhero movies of the modern era, except it wasn’t for Marvel or DC. It was Pixar’s The Incredibles, which will get a much anticipated belated sequel in 2019. After Bird is done with that, though, we would love to see him lend his talents to a live-action superhero project. As The Incredibles and The Iron Giant (and, to a less successful extent, Tomorrowland) show, Bird’s signature style is to tell optimistic, heartfelt tales that harken back to old-fashioned ideas of heroism. Given that, we can see him fitting in well at Marvel. It’s perhaps an obvious idea, but we would love to see him handle a Fantastic Four movie, if Marvel’s First Family are ever integrated into the MCU. 8) Christopher McQuarrie Like Brad Bird, Christopher McQuarrie also directed one of the best instalments of the Mission: Impossible franchise – 2015’s Rogue Nation. His next mission though, should he choose to accept it, should be to direct a superhero movie. It wouldn’t even be too much of a stretch, as McQuarrie has a long history with the X-Men franchise, having co-written the screenplay for both 2000’s X-Men and 2013’s The Wolverine. Assuming that Bryan Singer will bow out of the franchise, at least for a while, McQuarrie would be a great candidate to helm whatever the next mainstream X-Men movie is. Alternatively, he could also move over to Marvel and help them get their Inhumans off the ground, as they're basically the MCU’s version of the X-Men. 7) J.J. Abrams After 2009’s Star Trek and last year’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens, J.J. Abrams is now known as the guy who brings back sci-fi movie franchises bigger than ever. With DC currently struggling to win over critics and crowds, then, we suggest that they turn to Abrams for an upcoming movie. With his experience at handling expansive cosmic films starring teams of heroes, Abrams would be a natural fit for the Green Lantern reboot, Green Lantern Corps, which is currently scheduled for 2020. Alternatively, give him Man of Steel 2 (as we have suggested before). After all, he did write the script for the ultimately unmade Superman: Flyby back in the early 2000s. 6) Matthew Vaughn Matthew Vaughn is an exception on this list, as he's obviously made two superhero movies based on Marvel properties before – namely 2010’s Kick-Ass and 2011’s X-Men: First Class. Both were hugely entertaining entries into the genre that were full of irreverent fun and good storytelling. Preferably, then, Vaughn would move over to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the future and helm a similarly-pitched movie for them. James Gunn is currently not sure if he'll continue helming the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise after Vol. 2. arrives next year. If Vaughan took over for Vol. 3., he would presumably deliver a similar style and verve and keep the franchise from getting stale. Alternatively, we bet he’d make a great Thunderbolts movie, too. 5) Guillermo del Toro Visionary director Guillermo del Toro is the king of unmade movies and over his career he has notched up un-produced projects for both Marvel and DC – a Doctor Strange and Justice League Dark movie, respectively. With both of those properties finding their way to the big screen without him, you might think that he's done with both studios. However, we sincerely hope that’s not the case. As shown in his Hellboy films, del Toro is a natural at bringing the supernatural side of the genre to life. After helming Blade II back in 2002, he would be a brilliant choice to reboot the vampire hunter if Marvel ever felt the need. Either that or DC should put him in charge of the long-awaited Sandman movie. 4) Phil Lord and Chris Miller After finding big success with family audiences (The LEGO Movie) and with adults (22 Jump Street), directing duo Phil Lord and Chris Miller are hot tickets at the moment, with their next project being the Han Solo prequel movie. They're also writing two superhero films – DC’s The Flash and an animated Spider-Man movie, both due in 2018. If they're not attached to the Star Wars franchise for the long haul, however, it would be great to see the pair direct a superhero film as well. Currently, Greg Berlanti (of Arrowverse fame and Green Lantern infamy) is attached to DC’s mooted Booster Gold and Blue Beetle movie. If that falls through, though, Lord and Miller would be a great fit for those lighter-hearted heroes. 3) Drew Goddard A couple of years ago, The Cabin the Woods director and frequent Joss Whedon collaborator Drew Goddard looked set to make a big impact on the superhero world. After writing the pilot for Netflix’s Daredevil, he bowed out of the rest of the series to direct the long-touted Venom spinoff movie. Unfortunately, with the death of The Amazing Spider-Man franchise, that didn’t come to pass. However, apparently the project is still on the slate at Sony, just as a standalone. Hopefully, they will come to their senses and decide that a movie about Spider-Man’s nemesis without Spider-Man is a dumb idea and give the character to Marvel. If that ends up happening, we think Goddard should go with the project and make the movie for the MCU. 2) F. Gary Gray After hitting it big with Straight Outta Compton, F. Gary Gray's career is definitely on the up. After proving his storytelling abilities with the film, he'll be tested on his ability to helm great action sequences in the upcoming Fast 8. After that, it would be interesting to see him dip into the superhero genre. He almost got the gig of directing the Black Panther movie, after all. Seeing as he missed out on that hero, perhaps he could handle DC’s Cyborg movie, which is set for 2019. With a lesser-known hero like that, who could be seen as a knock-off Terminator, Gray could be an interesting choice to make Victor Stone a more grounded, relatable character. 1) Edgar Wright You have to feel sorry for Edgar Wright. You work on the Ant-Man movie for about ten years, re-writing and re-formatting your ideas to get it just right, and in the end you have to bow out of the project due to differences with the studio. Luckily for us, Peyton Reed turned out to be a solid replacement for Wright and 2015’s Ant-Man was an enjoyable entry in the MCU. However, we hope that Wright’s experience on that one hasn’t put him off making another superhero film. Presumably, he would want to give Marvel a wide berth after the whole Ant-Man thing, so instead he could cross over to DC. After seeing their recent movies, they need someone of Wright’s lightness of touch and strong storytelling abilities to steer them in the right direction. Wright for a Plastic Man movie, anyone?