James Gunn is sick of the Marvel vs. DC feud, wants all comic book movies to be good
The rivalry between Marvel and DC is one of those things that's on-again, off-again depending on what's hot at the box office. Earlier this year we had Batman v Superman and Captain America: Civil War hitting screens in a space of six weeks. An exciting time to be a comic book fan, certainly, yet it stirred things up between Marvel and DC fans as one received glowing reviews and the other.... well, didn't. Then there's other incidents that only fan the flames (DC helmer David Ayer yelling "Fuck Marvel!" prior to a screening of Suicide Squad, for example.)
It's refreshing to hear from one party who's totally disinterested in the entire skirmish: Guardians of the Galaxy's James Gunn. “I just don’t find any room in my headspace for thinking my movies are superior or inferior to someone else’s,” he tells Variety. “I really just think about how can I make, for instance right now, how can I make Guardians Vol. 2 the greatest spectacle film of all time? That’s all I care about so that’s what I concentrate on.
"I don’t really think about Marvel versus DC," he adds, "And also any time a Marvel movie comes out that isn’t as good as I wished it was or anytime a DC movie comes out that isn’t as I wished it was, I’m disappointed because I love these characters. I grew up reading Marvel and DC comics. I want them all to be good.”
Hearing his straightforward opinion definitely puts things into perspective. There are many readers who aren't beholden to one specific publisher - myself included. It's these groups who just dig good stories, well-drawn panels and great characters. Does it matter who publishes them?
Directed by James Gunn and starring Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Michael Rooker, Kurt Russell, Bradley Cooper, and Vin Diesel, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 will hit UK cinemas on April 28, 2017 and open in US theatres on May 5, 2017.
Images: Marvel
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Gem Seddon is GamesRadar+'s west coast Entertainment News Reporter, working to keep all of you updated on all of the latest and greatest movies and shows on streaming platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime. Outside of entertainment journalism, Gem can frequently be found writing about the alternative health and wellness industry, and obsessing over all things Aliens and Terminator on Twitter.