DC Films Producer Thinks James Gunn Will Unify Marvel, DC Fans

It has been a whirlwind nine months for writer/director James Gunn. Gunn wrote and directed Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy, which became a hit when it was released in 2014. He returned to write and direct the sequel, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, in 2017. He was set to return for the third film, but certain bad taste jokes Gunn made on Twitter before directing Guardians of the Galaxy resurfaced when he became the target of politically-motivated online activists. Disney removed Gunn from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, putting the film's future in question. Months later, Warner Bros. hired Gunn to write and direct The Suicide Squad, a reboot of the film series based on the DC Comics team. Weeks after that, after an ongoing campaign from Guardians of the Galaxy actors and fans, Disney announced it would reinstate Gunn as director of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.

Gunn will direct The Suicide Squad first before going back to the Marvel to direct the third Guardians movie. Gunn is the first director to have a Marvel Cinematic Universe and DC Extended Universe project in the works simultaneously. DC Films producer Peter Safran sees Gunn having a foot in both franchises a unifying form for Marvel and DC's fandoms.

"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 divides us," Safran tells JoBlo. "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 also made it clear that Gunn having two superhero project on his plate doesn't mean he's going to rush through either one or the other. He said, "No, it was all handled incredibly elegantly and everybody knows on both sides that Suicide Squad is the priority today and he'll finish that movie and then everybody knows that his next film will be Guardians. It's the best of all possible both worlds, I think, for fans and for James Gunn himself."

He also teased that fans should be excited about Gunn's reimagining of Suicide Squad, saying "First of all, we don't call it Suicide Squad 2 'cause it's a total reboot, so it's The Suicide Squad and I think people should be extremely excited about it. It's everything you would hope from a James Gunn script and I think that says a lot and that promises a lot and I know that we will deliver a lot."

Are you excited about The Suicide Squad and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3? Let us know in the comments.

The Suicide Squad on August 6, 2021

Upcoming DC Extended Universe movies include Shazam! on April 5th, Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of one Harley Quinn) on February 7, 2020, Wonder Woman 1984 on June 5, 2020, and The Batman on 25, 2021.