James Gunn has proved to be one of the most in-demand names in the comic book movie landscape, garnering both critical and box office success with hits like Guardians of the Galaxy and The Suicide Squad.
The director is one of the few filmmakers to have produced top-tier blockbusters with both Marvel and DC, something that has given the Hollywood vet a bit of freedom when it comes to picking and choosing his projects. Right now, Gunn is in the middle of finishing up work on Guadrians of the Galaxy Vol 3 and "[doesn't] know what's going to happen" after that.
But if a new report is to be believed, it seems fans have gotten their first clue at what is next for the director, and it might hint at his departure from working with Marvel Studios post-Guardians.
James Gunn's Uncertain MCU Future
James Gunn's Marvel future is now even more in doubt after The Hollywood Reporter exclusively reported the director was committing himself deeper to the DCEU with work on DC spin-offs and a "secret movie" for the franchise.
THR wrote that the Guardians of the Galaxy director is in talks with Warner Bros. to develop a mystery film and possibly even more alongside DCEU producer Peter Safran.
This comes after the director himself has cast doubts over his Marvel future, saying "I’m finishing a Guardians trilogy. That’s enough space opera for me at this moment."
Gunn and WB Sitting in a Tree
For Marvel fans eager to see what James Gunn could possibly be doing in the MCU after Guardians of the Galaxy, this news is going to be disappointing. It will be especially disheartening knowing that if the director had never been fired (and then rehired) by Marvel Studios, he would have never been courted by DC in the first place.
But now it seems Gunn is deepening his relationship with the Suicide Squad studio, and it will be interesting to see what comes of that deeper commitment.
Gunn seems to love both Marvel and DC, but in recent months has appeared a little burnt out on the Marvel side of things. He has told his Guardians story and (at least right now) doesn't seem too interested in taking on anything else within the universe.
Instead, he is getting the opportunity to flesh out his own universe within the DCEU, diving deep with spin-offs of the characters from The Suicide Squad, as well as chipping away at his next big blockbuster (or blockbusters) within the franchise.
Right now, Gunn is the ribbon-winning apple pie at the county fair, and everyone wants a slice. But there is only so much of him to go around, so someone was ultimately going to be left out - and that seems to be Marvel, at least in this case.
