Director James Gunn just dispelled one of the biggest rumors in the DC and Marvel rivalry.
Responding to a tweet from a fan, Gunn denied the accusation that Marvel actors are banned from participating in DC projects and called it “complete nonsense.” Shortly afterwards, another fan suggested that it was the other way around—that Warner Bros. didn’t allow their actors to transition to Disney’s Marvel universe. But Gunn reaffirmed that the practice doesn’t take place on either side.
It’s not the other way around either. https://t.co/oPEJHuTkZ2
— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) July 1, 2021
This rumor has been around for a good part of the last decade, but hasn’t once proven to be true. Stars such as Ryan Reynolds, Ben Affleck, Idris Elba, and JK Simmons have all appeared in starring roles across franchises. Even Thanos himself, Josh Brolin first appeared as the star of DC’s 2010 film Jonah Hex.
Gunn’s tweets come in the lead-up to the release of his first DC film, The Suicide Squad. Gunn supported his claims that actors are free to explore both sides of the superhero cinema spectrum with a list of stars who have appeared in both DC and Marvel films.
Now that the rumor has been cleared up courtesy of James Gunn, fans can get thinking about who they’d like to see crossing the franchise bridge to take up roles of other iconic characters.
Correction 9:49am CT, Dec. 2, 2021: This article previously containted an error that said Gunn was no longer working on Guardians of the Galaxy 3, however, now and at the time of publishing that claim was incorrect. We regret the error.
