After writing and directing two Guardians of the Galaxy films for Marvel Studios, and being briefly fired from the post, James Gunn hopped over to the world of DC to try and leave his mark on the other major comic book franchise. The Suicide Squad arrives in theaters and on HBO Max next month, followed by a Peacemaker standalone series with John Cena next year. Once all of this DC work is complete, Gunn will head back for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which seems like it will be his directorial effort in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
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Gunn has been very complimentary of his experiences working at Marvel, but he’s also aware that his take on the Guardians is finite. When you couple that with the fact that there’s a bit less creative freedom involved with the MCU, Guardians 3 feels like a good time for Gunn to step away. During an interview with The New York Times, the filmmaker explained that the final installment in the trilogy will likely mark the end of his Marvel tenure, at least for the foreseeable future.
“I have no clue what I’m going to do,” Gunn said. “For me, Guardians 3 is probably the last one. I don’t know about doing it again. I do find, because of the ability to do different stuff in the DC multiverse, it’s fun. They’re starting to really resemble their comic books. The Marvel Universe has always been a little more cohesive, and DC has always had more great single runs. They had The Dark Knight Returns. They had Watchmen. They had The Killing Joke. They had Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing. The fact that they did Joker, which is a totally different type of movie, that to me is cool. I’m very excited about Matt’s movie [Matt Reeves’ The Batman]. They’re getting some really good filmmakers involved. They’re always going to be hit or miss — I just don’t want them to get boring.”
Gunn has been very open about the fun he has had making The Suicide Squad, a dark and R-rated super villain romp that could likely never exist at Marvel. It’s a risky film that could reap greater creative rewards, which is a bit of a trademark for Gunn’s work over the course of his career. If opportunities for films like that present themselves, he’s probably going to keep taking them.
Are you looking forward to seeing how James Gunn finishes out the Guardians of the Galaxy series? Let us know in the comments!
