There’s no one as well-placed as James Gunn to pitch a Marvel and DC crossover. The director has now made two Marvel movies (Guardians of the Galaxy, its sequel, with the third incoming) and a DC one, the upcoming The Suicide Squad – and now, the filmmaker has revealed he has “casually” spoken with the up-tops at both studios about potentially making a crossover between the two.
“I’ve casually talked to the powers-that-be at both Marvel and DC about it,” he wrote on Twitter (opens in new tab). “I would love for it to happen. I don’t think it’s likely, but I don’t think it’s an impossibility either. THAT SAID, just constantly seeing crossovers and mashups is less enchanting to me than a strong story.”
Sounds unlikely, but a Marvel and DC crossover would surely set cinemas alight – and with Gunn at the helm, the movie would no doubt be another whirlwind thrill ride… and now we have our hopes up for this “not impossible” crossover.
Gunn went on to add (opens in new tab): “I find it disconcerting at times that many folks seem more interested in crossovers, cameos, references, and post-credit scenes than they do the actual story and characters of a specific film! When making a film I spend 99.9 percent of my time thinking about story & character and 0.1 percent the rest.”
He clarified (opens in new tab) that there is definitely a The Suicide Squad post-credits scene and that he “loves” them, however “they’re always an afterthought, a snack, not the main course.” In fairness, fans love these movies because of the characters, and wouldn’t care about the post-credits if not for the excellent stories being told – though we do talk about what’s coming next quite a lot. That’s all part of the fun!
Should a Marvel and DC crossover happen, the studios could do worse than to adapt the DC vs. Marvel series, which saw two God-like siblings – the personifications of DC and Marvel – challenge each other in a series of duels using pawns picked from their respective universes. The Flash ended up fighting Quicksilver, Batman against Captain America, and Thor vs. Captain Marvel/Shazam. Again, now we’re desperate to see that on the big screen. Sure, untangling those contracts would be a nightmare, but – as Gunn says in another tweet (opens in new tab)– the real winner would be the fans.
While we wait for this unlikely crossover to definitely happen, check out all the upcoming Marvel movies and shows with our guide to Marvel Phase 4.