When James Gunn was initially fired from Marvel Studios’ Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Warner Bros. and DC Films didn’t waste any time in making the filmmaker an offer to head across town and board Hollywood’s other shared superhero universe.
In fact, Gunn has admitted that he was given the choice of virtually any property he wanted, which included Superman. Of course, he opted to play to his strengths and assemble another ragtag team of dysfunctional misfits, which worked out pretty well for everyone in the end.
The Suicide Squad may have bombed at the box office, but it ranks as one of the DCEU’s best-reviewed efforts ever, while Peacemaker combined critical acclaim with high viewership figures and a ton of social media buzz, so nobody was shocked when John Cena’s spinoff wound up being renewed for a second season.
In a recent exchange with a fan on Twitter, Gunn said he wasn’t interested in tackling any of DC’s heavy hitters despite having the opportunity presented to him by the studio, insisting his preference has always been the underdog.
Based on what Peacemaker had to say about the various members of the Justice League during his eight-episode run, all of which were lines scripted by Gunn, it’s hard to imagine the Marvel and DC stalwart adapting one of the comic book company’s marquee names without taking things in a bold (and most likely bizarre) new direction.