Will James Gunn Be the Director of Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy?

Marvel Studios unveiled its plans for a Guardians of the Galaxy movie at Comic-Con this year, but we haven’t really heard much about the project since then. That may very well change now: Marvel is apparently in talks with director/screenwriter James Gunn to direct the film. 

Gunn is probably best known for having directed (and written) the indie superhero movie Super, as well as the 2006 alien plague movie Slither. According to reports, Gunn’s the top choice Marvel’s talking to about the chance to direct the film, so it seems they’re pretty confident in him.

In case talks with Gunn don’t go well, however, the studio also has its eyes on Bring it On director Peyton Reed and Half Nelson directors Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden for the space-epic.

There were also reports a while back that writer Chris McCoy (no previous credits) would be taking on the role of screenwriter.

It’s interesting that Marvel seems to be eyeing so many people without hefty superhero film credits already under their belts. Yes, Gunn’s Super was about superheroes, but not in a way that resembles most Marvel films; from what I understand, it was an indie about normal people transforming themselves the best they could into subpar heroes. A bit (read: a lot) grittier than The Avengers, with about 1/10000th the budget. It’s possible the Whedon sensibility is rubbing off on Marvel in even more ways than anticipated.

Here’s what The Hollywood Reporter had to say about Marvel’s confidence in Gunn:

Marvel is said to like Gunn’s sensibility and his ability to mix comedy elements with action and horror, a quality he shares with The Avengersdirector Joss Whedon, who, with his exclusive contract with Marvel, is now a major architect of the company’s expanding universe.

Gunn and the rest of the currently-being-assembled team for Guardians of the Galaxy will play a key role in Marvel’s “phase two;” it’s already been speculated that Guardians of the Galaxy will be an integral piece of the puzzle leading into the storyline for 2015’s Avengers sequel. If you’re curious, here’s a logline for the film that’s been making the rounds:

“A U.S. pilot  ends up in space in the middle of a universal conflict and goes on the run with futuristic ex-cons who have something everyone wants.”

Marvel seems to have a lot of confidence that Gunn can do the job, and considering how important it is to the company and its track record that the film be a success, who are we to argue with said confidence?

What do you think of the possibility of a Gunn-directed Guardians of the Galaxy?

(via Digital Spy) (Image via Geekscape)

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