James Gunn reveals how close The Suicide Squad and Guardians of the Galaxy projects really were

It seems that the timing between James Gunn signing on to The Suicide Squad and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 was closer than some of us would have thought.

In a cover story in the latest issue of Empire, James Gunn talks about his upcoming The Suicide Squad, but he also reveals how close the timing really was on Marvel calling him about coming back. “It was a happy ending, but it was also scary, because I actually got the call from Alan Horn (Walt Disney Studios chairman) long before it was announced: it happened literally the day after I agreed to do The Suicide Squad,” said Gunn.

After his discussion with Horn, Gunn said he felt the need to talk with Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige to update him. Gunn called Feige and informed him he was doing a DC film and the first thing he asked was, "Is it Superman?" Gunn did go on to tell Empire, "That was a possibility," which is just the latest confirmation of the possibility.

Gunn went on to explain that he told Feige that it was The Suicide Squad and the Marvel executive's reaction was to say, “Please, please make a good movie. Just… make a great movie.” Gunn said that he has kept his friends at Marvel up to speed on the project adding, “Kevin knew who all those characters were for months before we revealed them at FanDome. He still knows who the villain is. I think he’s pretty trustworthy with his NDA!”

The Suicide Squad is due to hit theaters on Aug. 6, 2021.

SOURCE: Empire
IMAGE SOURCE: Shutterstock - James Gunn - Kathy Hutchins

74 comments

Flower & Monster & Golden Calf

October 29, 2020

Disney be like, "He's going to what? Get him back before he signs any contracts!"
... after the phone call....
"Damnit!"

NinjaGamer13

October 29, 2020

Why would he feel the need to tell Kevin Feige all about the movie? I'm not one for the conspiracy theory that Marvel people are sabotaging DC films, don't get me wrong, but isn't that kinda weird?

Flower & Monster & Golden Calf
October 29, 2020
Gunn & Fiege are DC fans. I know, crazy.
1. NinjaGamer13
  October 29, 2020
  I'm surprised there's not like legal problems with that... Whether the rivalry is real or not amongst persons, at least from a business angle they ARE direct competitors, so it does seem a little strange that they would share all this super top-secret information across company lines...
  1. Flower & Monster & Golden Calf
    October 29, 2020
    What about comic writers and artists working for both dc and marvel? It’s not an issue. The only competition is who get paid more to keep the artist in their studio.
    1. NinjaGamer13
      October 30, 2020
      The comics have never been handled in the same way as movie production though. Different profile, different levels of security, different amounts of money at stake... A comic book doesn't have a multi-million-dollar budget and strict NDA's and stuff
    2. Flower & Monster & Golden Calf
      October 30, 2020
      From the article, Feige had an NDA on him when they talked if I’m not mistaken. I’m sure there are NDA on comic artists as well.
    3. NinjaGamer13
      October 30, 2020
      Most authors and publishers never use them, so I wouldn't be so sure comic book artists/writers do, either - https://www.everynda.com/bl...
Bruce Vader
October 29, 2020
It sounds weird, but first of all, if there really was sabotage they wouldn't just spill it out to the public and secondly, the character line up wasn't leaked, so Feige didn't squeal.
1. NinjaGamer13
  October 29, 2020
  Again, like I said, I don't prescribe to the theory, just seems strange legally and all
  1. Bruce Vader
    October 29, 2020
    Maybe not legally strange, but morally strange.
    1. Thanasis
      October 29, 2020
      It's neither.
    2. NinjaGamer13
      October 29, 2020
      I mean it's definitely a little suspect. You say "the worst that can happen is they copy something" like it's no big deal, but in the corporate world and the art world - and this is both - that is actually a very big deal... Not to mention having that insider knowledge could potentially give Marvel a leg up in strategizing their movie plans to successfully compete against DC in the future, and that could hurt WB in the end
    3. Thanasis
      October 29, 2020
      It's not a big deal because the most you can do with the knowledge of a plot is copy some of it. Movies do that constantly any way. There is no actual tangible issue here. Knowing plot points doesn't give you a strategic advantage it only tells you about the movies plot. The only "strategic" thing you can come out of this situation with is wether you like what you learn or not and guess if it will be successful or not.
    4. NinjaGamer13
      October 30, 2020
      Then why are NDA's treated with such strictness? These are multi-million-dollar franchises we're talking about; I feel like they would care...
      But knowing the plot can lend itself to strategies. Say Feige wasn't an honorable guy and decided to use what he learned about TSS to make a clone of it that they were able to fast-track and release before TSS came out. That could potentially hurt TSS' reception, and thus cost WB potentially significant amounts of money. And that is just one stupid example. More nuanced things could come out of that kind of knowledge too
    5. Thanasis
      October 30, 2020
      Because spoiling a film for the audience is a terrible, terrible idea.
    6. NinjaGamer13
      October 30, 2020
      Lol agreed but it's more than that. They don't particularly care about us as individuals and our personal enjoyment of art/entertainment. The only reason that would matter to a big company would be because of its direct or indirect potential to lessen profits to be made from said movies, which is obviously highly important when we're dealing with a multi-million-dollar industry. Spoiling is part of that, surely, since there is potential for many who get a movie spoiled for them not to be as willing to spend their money to go see it, but I'm sure there are more detrimental potentialities than just that, though
    7. Thanasis
      October 30, 2020
      The plot of a film means nothing to the studios. It's the audience they care about and an unspoiled film is infinitely more attention grabbing even if it's not great. Nothing else about a film's plot can be used by rival companies. That's it. Movies share common themes and plot points all the time. There's nothing else really.
Hunter Zolomon
October 29, 2020
Because they're friends and Fiege is a comic book fan who might have a interest in the film in the same way we do, believe it or not DC vs Marvel isn't actually a thing with them.
1. NinjaGamer13
  October 29, 2020
  I guess that's fair. I'm just surprised there's not like legal problems with that... Whether the rivalry is real or not amongst persons, at least from a business angle they ARE direct competitors, so it does seem a little strange that they would share all this super top-secret information across company lines...
j.k.2023
October 30, 2020
Do you realize that James Gunn himself revealed this information?.....Also, If there was some conspiracy going on like cultists believe then all James Gunn needs to do is use his smartphone.There is no need for kevin to visit.
Everyone expects a great SS movie from James Gunn.If that is called sabotaging then DC can use more of that.
1. NinjaGamer13
  October 30, 2020
  Do you realize that I explicitly stated I do not prescribe to the conspiracy theories I mentioned? :P
  We don't expect that because he told Feige about it lol. We expect it because it looks/sounds good so far.
El Catalan Libanes
October 31, 2020
Don't worry, producers in Hollywood know everything about every project in production. Also, Feige and Marvel have the upper hand here, they don't really need to copy DC at this point.

Flower & Monster & Golden Calf

October 29, 2020

Oh, The SS is confirmed rated R.

Thanasis

October 29, 2020

Oh look, Feige being cool and actually liking DC stuff. Can't wait for a bunch of insecure babies to question why a director would talk to his fcking friend about a movie.

lowdevil
October 29, 2020
He can like DC characters all to his hearts desire. Doesnt change the fact of what he did to spite BvS with his lame Civil War. Marvel started all this childish sh-t just putting that out there. Maybe they all grew up...but i doubt that.
1. Thanasis
  October 29, 2020
  Spite? He didn't do anything to Spite BvS. Had BvS been received better it would have made more money. More people liked CW more hence the extra money that film made. Childish? Look, I think a lot of Marvel films are formulaic and generic but there's maybe one or two movies that I would consider childish. They just aren't grimdark and muted.
  1. lowdevil
    October 30, 2020
    Wrong. And by childish i did not mean the films, i meant the people behind it clearly, since that was the subject.
    1. Thanasis
      October 30, 2020
      What is childish about the people behind these films?
    2. lowdevil
      October 30, 2020
      The people making them pretending to be friends with clear competition and the actors (Sam Jackson) for being the ultimate child and choosing a side where there should never have been since the genre is comic books. They started it, then the immature of the internet flew with it.
    3. Thanasis
      October 30, 2020
      Didn't Momoa say F*ck Marvel for no damn reason? Nothing childish about two DC fans talking to each other about a DC movie.
    4. lowdevil
      October 30, 2020
      Yes and hes a child. But again, dont forget who started that whole thing, Sam Jackson and Marvel for being defensive about CW.
    5. Thanasis
      October 30, 2020
      Who started it? Sam Jackson was asked a question and he answered. If anything this kind of comment comes more from DC people than anything.
2. Hunter Zolomon
  October 29, 2020
  Sure the timing is there but a Civil War film was on the cards as soon as the first Avengers film happened, its one of the biggest Marvel stories of all time so of course they would do it. As for being "lame" yeah you can think but it doesn't make it true.
  1. Thanasis
    October 29, 2020
    Also, the only thing those movies share is the fact that the main two members of their respective teams are against each other.
  2. lowdevil
    October 30, 2020
    Youre wrong about that. Even the Russos' admitted as much. CW was made AFTER they found out about BvS and thats a fact. As far as being lame, yes that fight scene alone at the airport was so cringe i almost left the theatre. But ive never been a fan of these marvel cupcake films anyways. To each their own.
  3. lowdevil
    October 30, 2020
    https://www.ign.com/article...
  4. Thanasis
    October 30, 2020
    They have actually stated that they made CW once they learnt that WB was doing a BvS film.
3. j.k.2023
  October 30, 2020
  He is also a businessman.He felt threated by BvS but little did he knew....
NinjaGamer13
October 29, 2020
How am I supposed to know they're close friends? And friends or not, you'd think there'd be legal problems with that... Whether the rivalry is real or not amongst persons, at least from a business angle they ARE direct competitors, so it does seem a little strange that they would share all this super top-secret information across company lines...
1. Thanasis
  October 29, 2020
  You think he's openly talking about it in interviews and WB were not informed about Feige's visits? How are you supposed to know their good friends? They've been good friends for years. There is no way WB were not in on the fact that Feige visited and talked to Gunn. He even signed an NDA, LOL.
  Also, they're making a movie, not creating nukes. The worst thing that can happen is an idea can be copied. Woah!!!! Crazy!!!!
  1. NinjaGamer13
    October 29, 2020
    ...how am I supposed to know they've been close friend for years...? For all I knew, they worked together and that's it.
    I mean the fact that they don't even legally allow the actors IN the movie to say ANYTHING about it until it's released, that's a big deal. So to think they'd be perfectly okay with the leader of their DIRECT COMPETITOR knowing EVERYTHING about the movie is extremely surprising to me. Clearly they know he knows, seeing as he's talking about it in interviews and everything, but that doesn't make it any less surprising.
    1. Thanasis
      October 29, 2020
      Feige has signed an NDA. He legally can't say shit about the movie. Gunn is the director, he can do and say whatever he wants if the studio let him. They don't want actors and people involved to talk because they don't want to spoil the movie for the audience not the other studios. They couldn't care less.
      As long as Feige doesn't spoil the film they couldn't care less.
    2. NinjaGamer13
      October 30, 2020
      That just seems too simple to be true to me lol, but maybe it really is just that simple
      I just don't think that sort of thing would ever be the case in any other comparable instance. Like Hunter brought up PS vs Xbox. I doubt they'd be too happy about lead designers sharing info about each other's work with each other regarding those systems...
    3. Thanasis
      October 30, 2020
      What? It's the same for PS and XBox. The opposition can literally do nothing with the information about a games story.
    4. NinjaGamer13
      October 30, 2020
      I was speaking specifically about the consoles. And they surely would mind that - proprietary secrets, first-ever developments and innovations in their tech, etc. that sets them apart from the competition would be lost. But specific video games might be the same story as movies more or less, though I don't think they would mind as much for that since that is a smaller industry with less at stake than movies.
    5. Thanasis
      October 30, 2020
      Sure, but we're not talking about Feige directly overseeing the planning of DC films. He was just talking to his friend about the movie he is working on. Sony doesn't give a rats ass if Xbox learns the plot of one of their games.
    6. Thanasis
      October 30, 2020
      Also, what are you talking about? Video Games are far, far, far bigger than films. It's not even close. Every metric possible shows this.
    7. Thanasis
      October 30, 2020
      The video game industry is worth about 160 billion dollars, the movie industry is worth about 40 billion. It's a landslide.
    8. Bruce Vader
      October 30, 2020
      Oh wait, when Gunn said Feige is trustworthy with his NDA I thought it was just a figure of speech. Well, then there's absolutely no problem here, legally or otherwise. WB has allowed Feige on the set too, so clearly they don't mind.
    9. Thanasis
      October 30, 2020
      When there are legal ramification.
    10. Thanasis
      October 30, 2020
      You also definitely don't let anyone not part of the film on set without an NDA.
2. Hunter Zolomon
  October 29, 2020
  Dude this isn't two Football teams or PS vs Xbox its just two film studios who make comic book films, there is no Marvel vs DC to them and both Marvel and DC films what do well works out well for both as its shows people have interest in watching them, in fact i'm pretty sure Feige has said something like that as well.
  1. NinjaGamer13
    October 30, 2020
    It IS PS vs. Xbox, though, essentially, isn't it? I'm sure most of the creatives don't think of it that way - they're probably just in it for the art - but I'm sure the corporate people do
3. j.k.2023
  October 30, 2020
  WB would get on their knees to get Kevin.
j.k.2023
October 30, 2020
Go to twitter.You will see hundreds of Hack Snyder cultists accounts commenting on how James Gunn is a spy send to destroy DC like Joss and Geoff.

Hunter Zolomon

October 29, 2020

Goes to show that Marvel have no issues with DC and i expect the same applies with DC, end of the day both have worked together on various things and while in the past they have had issues they have resolved them with the rivalry being mostly friendly. The Marvel vs DC thing is mostly just children and manbabies who have to have sides and can't like more then one thing.

Kerk Lastnameless
October 30, 2020
You're naive. When a Burger King and a Wendy's share a corner, Burger King would benefit from Wendy's going out of business.
1. Hunter Zolomon
  October 30, 2020
  Except these are two completely different things. You think the general audience cares if its Marvel or DC? No they don't and will happily watch both The Batman and Thor 4 like would they have both Black Widow and Wonder Woman 84 this year.
  1. Kerk Lastnameless
    October 30, 2020
    The general audience has only so much money to spend. Statistically, average movie goer sees a movie once a month, so they have decisions to make. The higher the reputation of Marvel, the higher the chance that the movie goer will choose it over DC.
    1. Hunter Zolomon
      October 30, 2020
      Snyder's films aside DC films have been doing well so its clear DC doesn't impact Marvel nor Marvel impact DC.
    2. Dudesday
      October 30, 2020
      The two last DCEU movies couldn't even pass $400M, after Aquaman's huge financial success, and Snyder wasn't involved at all with the last two DCEU movies
    3. Hunter Zolomon
      October 30, 2020
      Joker made over a billion, the general audience don't care about what part of DC is what, also Shazam is getting a sequel so it done well enough.
    4. Kerk Lastnameless
      October 30, 2020
      That's like saying that the Carl's Jr 5 miles away does not affect the competition of the Burger King and Wendy's that are on the same block. Put any film next to Endgame, and it will be swallowed up, no matter the genre.
Half life 3 confirmed
October 30, 2020
I'll believe it when my favorite hero can be called Captain Marvel.

Thanasis

October 29, 2020

I especially love the fact that like all of us Feige is most interested in the prospect of a new Superman film.

lowdevil

October 29, 2020

Im sure D-ney dont have insiders at WB. Ya, im sure.

Thanasis
October 29, 2020
Every studio has "insiders" in every other studio.

chavied

October 30, 2020

I don't believe in rivalry between DC and Marvel.. Except their pathetic fanboys

Deepak Singh

October 30, 2020

to be honest both guardian movies where boring as hell and not even funny , but suicide squad seems to be something proper

Thanasis
October 30, 2020
I think Gotg 1 was solid. Gotg 2 on the other hand is a very different story.
Ginesse Stemmet
October 31, 2020
The first one was good the second one was really bad

j.k.2023

October 30, 2020

I would be surprised if J.J. Abrams won't direct future Superman movies.

Thanasis
October 30, 2020
As much as I like JJ, I can't see him making anything really groundbreaking or cool with Superman.

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James Gunn reveals how close The Suicide Squad and Guardians of the Galaxy projects really were

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