James Gunn really is the thread that will connect the Marvel and DC tapestries. The director recently began working on DC’s The Suicide Squad and Marvel sent him one heck of a present to mark the day: a scrapbook of several behind-the-scenes shots of his work on Guardians of the Galaxy. Or, as Gunn puts it in a tweet, “It’s a thick tome packed with memories that brought a tear to my eye.” He also took to Twitter to share the photos of said gifts and we can collectively concur that it is a very sweet gift.
Gunn directed Guardians of the Galaxy 1 and 2 but was fired in 2018 from the third one due to previous tweets unearthed by right-wing trolls. The cast—including Dave Bautista, Chris Pratt, and Zoe Saldana—were vocally unhappy about this, as were the fans. DC didn’t waste much time after and nabbed Gunn to direct the Suicide Squad sequel, a wise decision because that first movie was a real disappointment. Marvel soon realized the error of their ways and Gunn was rehired to helm Guardians of the Galaxy 3, which will begin production once he wraps up The Suicide Squad.
It’s beginning to look like this guy is really bringing together two massive fictional universes and those who worship the heroes and villains they bring to the screen. In March, Aquaman and Shazam! producer Peter Safran shared the idea that both comic book mammoths can survive together and that “Gunn has always espoused the view that that which unites comic book and superhero lovers is much greater than that which divides us.” He wasn’t wrong because Gunn also tweeted that, at the end of the day, Marvel and DC fans have more in common than they don’t, and that he’s been a fan of both for almost all his life.
All this is really nice and all but it’s basically just a reminder that we have a really, really long way to go before any of these movies see the light of day. Still, consider us optimistic.