Shortly after being fired as the director of Marvel Cinematic Universe sequel Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which technically kicked off a chain of events that saw Kevin Feige accidentally create his own arch-nemesis, James Gunn was offered his pick of almost any DC project he wanted – which included Superman.
Ultimately, the filmmaker plumped for what eventually became The Suicide Squad, which itself snowballed into Peacemaker and at least one more episodic spinoff if not more, but he claimed at the time that he wasn’t all that interested in tackling the Man of Steel. That’s fair enough, because the Big Blue Boy Scout doesn’t really fit Gunn’s sensibilities, but fans on Reddit have pointed out an interesting caveat that paints his comments in a new light.
The Super and Slither creator may have claimed that he wouldn’t direct a standalone Superman blockbuster, but let’s not forget that he also said he wasn’t interested in tackling the job currently held by then-DC Films boss Walter Hamada, which is ironically the role he ended up getting when he and Peter Safran were named co-CEOs of the rebranded DC Studios and its DCU.
While he obviously had no clue at the time he’d end up being named as the creative driving force behind the entire shared mythology not too long afterwards, it’s an interesting thought regardless. He said he didn’t want to run the show and ended up doing just that, so could he go two-for-two on incorrect predictions and end up taking the reins on a Henry Cavill-led Superman story? Funnily enough, that’s entirely up to him now.
