Last summer, it looked like James Gunn’s superhero movie career was over after Disney fired him because of a social media storm caused by the filmmaker’s former tweets. Fast forward to now and Gunn has actually got two comic book films on the slate, one for Marvel – Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 – and the other for DC – The Suicide Squad. Directors have switched between the studios before, but it’s unprecedented for one to have a working relationship with both concurrently.
By all accounts, Marvel Studios and DC Films are happy to share Gunn, with it understood by all that his immediate priority is The Suicide Squad and once he’s done with that, he’ll helm his Guardians threequel. For DC producer Peter Safran, he hopes that this Gunn business will put to bed the longtime Marvel/DC rivalry between fans, which he labels as “absurd.”
“And you know what I love about James directing for both Marvel and DC is he has always espoused the view that that which unites comic book and superhero lovers is much greater than that which divide us. Because, there’s always been this Marvel/DC rivalry, which he has said, and I agree, is absurd. There’s room for everybody and certainly that which unites us all is far greater than that which divides us, so hopefully they’ll see that you can be both a Marvel and a DC fan and the world won’t spin off its axis.”
Safran’s attached as a producer for next month’s Shazam!, and the rest of the cast and crew of that movie also share his opinion that Marvel and DC fans should be comrades rather than enemies. For one, Director David F. Sandberg and star Zachary Levi have urged folks to support both their movie and Captain Marvel, which famously used to be what Shazam went by. On a similar note, Wonder Woman‘s Gal Gadot recently congratulated “sister” Brie Larson on CM‘s success.
The Suicide Squad is reported to start filming later this year before hitting theaters in 2021, while Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will likely be with us around 2023.
Published: Mar 19, 2019 04:16 pm