It was years ago, at this point, but the news that James Gunn was fired from “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” shocked fans when it was announced. However, the director’s lack of a job was quickly rectified when he signed on to helm “The Suicide Squad” for Warner Bros./DC. That sparked all sorts of discussions that perhaps Gunn was taking a shot at Marvel by accepting a job with bitter rivals, DC. In a new interview with Empire, not only does James Gunn show that the Marvel/DC rivalry really isn’t a thing, but he revealed that he re-signed on as director of “Guardians 3” pretty quickly after he took the job at DC.
READ MORE: ‘The Suicide Squad’: James Gunn Says He Had “Full Freedom” To Kill Any Character
“It was a happy ending, but it was also scary, because I actually got the call from [Disney exec] Alan Horn long before it was announced: it happened literally the day after I agreed to do ‘The Suicide Squad,’” said Gunn.
He went on to say that he talked to Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige and explained that he took a job on a DC film. Feige questioned whether it was a “Superman” film, but obviously, that wasn’t the case. However, Gunn did confirm to Empire that “Superman” was on the table.
“That was a possibility,” he said.
It might come to a surprise to those fans that want to believe in the rivalry between Marvel and DC, but Feige was apparently very happy for Gunn’s new job and asked him to “please make a good movie.” Not only that, Gunn shared details about the DC film with his Marvel Studios boss well before the public knew.
“Kevin knew who all those characters were for months before we revealed them at FanDome,” he said. “He still knows who the villain is. I think he’s pretty trustworthy with his NDA!”
Of course, Gunn is scheduled to take over “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” after he finishes work on “The Suicide Squad.” The former doesn’t quite have a release date set, but most people assume it will be in 2022, at the very soonest. However, for “The Suicide Squad,” that film is arriving in theaters on August 6, 2021.