As James Gunn‘s DCU launches with the premiere of Superman, his Marvel days appear to be in the past for now.
Following the director’s 2018 ousting from the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, Gunn admitted he “thought my career was over,” but luckily he and Peter Safran were tapped to co-head DC Studios in 2022, opening the door for his next superhero project.
“Toby Emmerich from Warner Bros. at the time came to me. He’s like, ‘James Gunn’s Superman?’” he recalled on the Armchair Expert podcast. “I said, ‘I don’t know, man.’ And then he was like, ‘Well, what about Suicide Squad?’ So I came up with an idea. I went and pitched it. They were like, ‘Yes, let’s do it.’”
The same day, Gunn said he got a call from then-Disney CCO Alan Horn after Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige had campaigned to get the director his job back.
“I went over to Kevin’s house. I went into his basement where he’s got all his Star Wars figures like a little museum and he said, ‘This is amazing.’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, it’s good, but I have to do something else first.’ And — oh my God, I didn’t remember this until right now — Kevin goes, ‘Ugh, are you doing Superman?’”
The project was actually his 2021 sequel The Suicide Squad, which he directed before returning to Marvel for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023).
When asked if he felt an “ethical dilemma” jumping ship for DC, Gunn said, “No, I just shook my head. I didn’t feel that way because I was fired.”
“Listen, there are people that I’m not that happy with over there [at Disney], but that certainly wasn’t the Marvel guys, you know?” explained Gunn. “They were completely supportive. [Marvel Studios Co-President] Louis D’Esposito called me all the time. Lou and Kevin were great. So it certainly wasn’t them. But I didn’t feel guilt at all. I mean, I had to take a job! I took a job [with] people that I also really liked, and that was it.”
Since taking over DC Studios with Safran, Superman marks the first entry in his new DCU franchise, which begins with the ‘Gods and Monsters’ phase.
In theaters July 11, Superman stars David Corenswet in the titular role. In addition to Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, the cast also includes Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor and María Gabriela de Faría as The Engineer, as well as Skyler Gisondo, Sara Sampaio, Sean Gunn, Edi Gathegi, Anthony Carrigan, Isabel Merced and Nathan Fillion as some familiar DC faces.
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