The landscape of 2025 movies has been taken over by the punk rock kindness of Superman. That was made possible by the absolutely punk James Gunn finally accepting an assignment he seemed fated to take. While we know that Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 firing/rehiring, learning how is quite a ride - and the final stop involves details that even the man himself hadn’t recalled until a recent interview.
James Gunn Was Asked Back To Marvel… Right After He Accepted His First DC Movie
Sitting down with Dax Shephard’s Armchair Expert podcast, the co-CEO of DC Films set the scene for his current gig by recalling how he (temporarily) lost the last one. Sharing the first part of his story, Gunn explained how he landed in Warner Bros.’ comic universe in the first place, as follows:
Toby Emmerich, from Warner Bros. at the time, came to me; was like ‘James Gunn’s Superman? James Gunn’s Superman?’, and I said, ‘I dunno man.’ Then he was like, ‘Well, what about Suicide Squad?’. And so I came up with an idea, I went and pitched it, they were like ‘Yes, let’s do it.’
Knowing that Mr. Gunn initially turned down Superman helps enrich this story on a whole, as does the fact that the Guardians trilogy helmer got to finish his MCU story. But that twist has its own consequence, as Alan Horn, the chairman of Walt Disney Studios at the time of the firing, wanted James Gunn back.
No joke, I went home and I got a phone call. It was Alan Horn, and he said, ‘James, I wonder if you could come in and see me tomorrow?’ … He said, ‘I wanted to hire you back.’ I said, ‘Oh. I’m gonna have to talk to Kevin.’
With one trusted mentor/collaborator back on his side, it was time to talk to the other - Kevin Feige. Though some consider what he had to say as predicting the future, I think something else was at work.
Kevin Feige’s Superman Crack Might Have Come From Some Personal DC Knowledge
At this point in the talk, James Gunn remembered something from that meeting with Kevin Feige that he hadn’t talked about, until now. Taking us into that talk he had with his then once and future boss, the man behind Creature Commandos continued that tale thusly:
So I went to Kevin’s house … and he said, ‘This is amazing. This is so good. This is what I wanted.’ And I said, ‘Yeah, it’s good, but I have to do something else first.’ … And Kevin goes, ‘Ugh. Are you doing Superman?’ … I said, ‘No, I’m gonna do a Suicide Squad sequel,’ and he said, ‘Whoa.’
Now call me crazy, but since DC tried to steal Kevin Feige before going with its Superman writer/director, I have a feeling that Supes was always going to be the foundation of the new DCU. There must have been an ask in the air, in order for the head of Marvel Studios to assume that James Gunn would be reviving Metropolis’ champion of truth and justice.
Of course, we may never know, as the two men who had this conversation probably wouldn’t share that. At least we know the story ended with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 being an emotional triumph, and the three men in question all probably having a laugh over how it all worked out.
We the audience have also won, as you can see the new Superman in theaters now. Or if you’ve already made a trip to Metropolis, you can always see how Supes shines in 3D/4DX, unless you don’t want to know what it feels like to be a Kryptonian.
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
