James Gunn Passed on Superman Movie in Favor of Suicide Squad 2

It appears that Warner Bros. and DC Comics were going all-in on recruiting James Gunn to their cinematic universe.

The former Marvel director was fired for controversial tweets that resurfaced last July and has been rumored to be attached to the DCEU ever since. Of course, we now know Gunn will be directing Suicide Squad 2 but apparently, he was offered to helm a Superman movie as well. This report comes from The Hollywood Reporter, which claims that Warner Bros. gave Gunn a few options to select from, including the Man of Steel. Gunn ultimately passed on this but he did show some interest in Supes’ dog, Krypto. Here’s an excerpt from that article:

“When Warners was courting Gunn, the studio gave him his pick of properties, including Superman. Though Gunn never got far enough along to seriously consider tackling a Superman movie, the filmmaker did take a shine to the Man of Steel’s superpowered dog Krypto during his comics research — which makes sense for a man who turned a talking raccoon into one of Marvel’s most popular big screen characters”

A James Gunn-led Superman movie sounds unique for sure and if Gunn decided to sign on, it most likely would have been our introduction to Krypto into the DC movies. What’s probably the most interesting piece of information here is that Warner Bros. offered Gunn the directing chair for a Supes movie, which somewhat contradicts reports that the studio wants to stray away from the boy scout for a while.

It’s probably for the best that Gunn decided on Suicide Squad 2 instead, seeing how much love he’s gotten for his work on Guardians of the Galaxy series. Suicide Squad has the potential to have the same type of success if handled correctly. It appears that Gunn’s vision for the Suicide Squad doesn’t include much from the first movie since reports claim that his version will be a relaunch for the franchise and will feature a mostly-new team. With Margot Robbie’s Birds of Prey in production, this most likely won’t be a full-on reboot but don’t expect to see too many references from the first Suicide Squad.

Do you think James Gunn could have pulled off a good Superman movie? Are you excited for his version of Suicide Squad? Or do you think DC should have stayed away from him after his departure at Marvel? Let us know in the comments below!

Taylor Cole

Avid gamer and placeholder of what is now the worst selfie of all time. Mostly an Xbox/PS4 player but I have been known to destroy friendships in Mario Kart and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.