If you're a fan of comic book movies and the work of James Gunn, then everything is coming up roses. The director, who had taken over the new Suicide Squad movie following his unceremonious departure from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is now on board both films. Whichever side of the comic book divide you're on, you've got a potentially great movie on the way. Of course, the entire situation tends to blur the line between Marvel and DC, and some think that's a wonderful thing. Shazam! producer Peter Safran thinks its great that Gunn is making both films because it may help bring the two sides together. According ot Safran...
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. 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.
Marvel and DC have always been in competition, it's the nature of business, but that competition has seemingly moved beyond the sales charts and resulted in many fans picking a side. Whether you're a comic book reader or simply a viewer of the big screen adaptations, it seems that many support one set of stories and characters over the other simply because of which logo is attached.
Even before James Gunn became attached as a director of movies from both Marvel and DC, as Peter Safran tells JoBlo, he had spoken out frequently on Twitter about the fact that he felt that the line drawn in the sand between the two comic publishers was arbitrary and irrelevant. There's no reason that people can't be fans of both sides and all the great superhero characters that they have to offer.
As the most high profile name to work both sides of the fence so far, one certainly has to wonder if James Gunn has opened the floodgates. Could we see more and more people, on both sides of the camera, possibly work with both Marvel and DC more often? For the most part, it has seemed that getting cast in a major role for one cinematic universe has made the other one off limits. Zachary Levi had a small role in the Thor franchise but was killed off before he became Shazam! for DC.
James Gunn will go to work on The Suicide Squad first, with production expected to start later this year. After that, he'll return to Marvel and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3. Will James Gunn become the great peacemaker of our time and bring DC and Marvel fans together? We can only hope.
