Marvel Studios are out of their minds in the best way possible. They started their insanity by hiring ex-drug addict, Robert Downey Jr., as the Iron Man. Then, they brought on Geek God, Joss Whedon to spruce up the script for Captain America, and then write/direct THE AVENGERS and end what we refer to as Marvel’s Phase I. Phase II for Marvel will be starting next year with Iron Man 3, Thor 2: The Dark World, Captain America 2: Winter Soldier, and in 2014, Guardians of the Galaxy. Obviously after everything we will we Avengers 2, slated for May 2015. Before that, Marvel is busy locking down a director for the Guardians movie, written by Chris McCoy, which we wrote about here. Today, we get news that James Gunn is in talks to take a Tree Man and talking Raccoon to the big screen; and I couldn’t be happier.
I love James Gunn. I’ve been a fan of him since his days over at Troma, writing such gems as Terror Firmer. His debut movie, Slither, was an updated version of one of my favorite 80’s horror films, Night of the Creeps, and it was great. Recently he brought audiences his own twisted version of a comic-book hero called Super. You can read about it here.
Gunn, like Whedon, gets comics. He also gets humor. A lot. Something that writer, Chris McCoy, and producer, Joss Whedon, are really pushing in the Guardians script. They have a talking raccoon for Odins sake, it’s gotta be a bit humorous just for audiences to connect with these far-out characters. If you have any doubts about James Gunn’s skills at humor or directing or even video-game styling, rent one of the movies above or check out his new video game, Lollipop Chainsaw.
This is all in the rumor mill for now, but I hope we get some confirmation in the very near future. As usual, don’t forget you read it on DFAT first!
~Chaz
