Disney Announce They've Rehired James Gunn To Direct 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3'

Its been a weird couple of months for James Gunn, full of ups and downs. The director was controversially fired by Disney last year after old tweets resurfaced from his time before Marvel. Due to the backlash over the tweets, the company announced Gunn would no longer be involved in the final film of the trilogy. Rumors ran rampant of who would takeover the franchise Gunn created, by meanwhile he took on a job over at rivals DC to direct and write a reboot of Suicide Squad. With both parties seemingly having moved on and gone their separate ways, it seemed as if Gunn's chances of returning were practically impossible while Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 would sit in limbo for years to come.

But to the surprise of fans, Disney announced today that the director had been reinstated. Rumors suggest that the studio had always planned on bringing back Gunn, and were waiting for the controversy to die down before announcing he'd return. Cast members like Chris Pratt and Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige had both remained coy when asked about the third installment of the franchise during the last few months, only confirming that they would still be using the script Gunn had wrote. With projects such as The Eternals and Black Widow being prioritized, it was looking as if Vol. 3 had completely fallen off Marvel's schedule.

While names such as fellow Marvel director Taika Waititi had be thrown around as a replacement, Deadline reports that the studio never actually looked into any replacements for Gunn. The firing of Gunn was controversial from the moment it was announced, with cast members from the Guardians films even penning a letter in defense of their director. Gunn had been credited as the man who brought these characters out of obscurity in the comics, and made them into fan favorite house hold names. Dave Bautista had even come out and said he wouldn't return for the third movie following Disney's decision, and experienced interest in joining Gunn's Suicide Squad over at DC instead.

It was believed DC and Gunn's union had been a slap in the face to Marvel, giving the director a similar project to work his magic on a bought on odd team-up of comic book characters. Gunn will apparently still be working on The Suicide Squad in the same capacity as before as it begins filming this fall, and will then work on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 following that. While this does put it behind its original planned release date, I'm sure fans will be patient as long its the same guy behind the camera who brought them the first two movies. 

So how do you feel about James Gunn being rehired by Marvel? Are you excited to see him back for Guardians 3 or would you have liked to have seen a fresh take from a different director? Let us know below!

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Roster For James Gunn's 'The Suicide Squad' Will Include King Shark, Polka-Dot Man, Ratcatcher, and Peacekeeper

If there's one thing director James Gunn prides himself on, its taking a rag-tag group of characters and getting audiences to care about them. Like he did with the Guardians of the Galaxy for Marvel, Gunn has reportedly assembled some very obscure and random characters for his own take on The Suicide Squad. While we do know the characters of Deadshot (Now played by Idris Elba) and Harley Quinn are set to return in some capacity, the rest of the roster seems to be a freshly clean slate for Gunn to do what he wants with. 

According to Collider's Jeff Sneider, the team that Gunn is assembling will include the villains King Shark, Polka-Dot Man, Ratcatcher, and Peacekeeper. A lot of these characters funnily enough seem to be serving as stand-ins for some of the members of the group who were used in David Ayer's 2016 Suicide Squad. King Shark is probably the biggest name here, who is a humanoid shark who was rumored to have been included in the first movie at some point. The character can be serving as a replacement for Killer Croc as the scarier large member of the team, although he'll likely be CGI as opposed to the make up that was used for Croc. The character will also be familiar to fans of The Flash TV show on CW, as he made his first appearance on screen there. 

The rest of the roster includes some pretty ridiculous characters including Ratcatcher, who will be a female in this movie unlike in the comics. She can control armies of rats, and is best known as a Batman villain who was formerly an exterminator in Gotham. Polka-Dot Man is a member of the Batman rogues gallery who throws the colored dots on his body that turn into fireballs. Lastly there's Peacekeeper, a man who is sworn to pacifism so much that he'd ironically kill for peace. 

Polka-Dot Man, Peacemaker, and Ratcatcher

The group manages to "out-weird" both the Guardians and original roster from the 2016 movie, but I guess we shouldn't have expected anything less from Gunn. His style of humor is sure to play well with these characters in a way that makes fun of themselves and gives them some great banter. Gunn also reportedly wants Dave Bautista for the role of Peacekeeper, as the actor had previously teased he'd follow the director to his next project. Bautista has been open about with his disagreement over Disney's exiling of Gunn from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, so crossing over to DC is very likely possibility. 

So how do you feel about the roster for the new Suicide Squad? Are there any other character you think would fit in with this group? Let us know below!

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Idris Elba Top Choice To Replace Will Smith As Deadshot In James Gunn's 'Suicide Squad' Sequel

Whether you liked 2016's Suicide Squad or not, few can argue that the movie wasn't a hit thats still memorable to movie goers. While its best known now for bringing us Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn, a huge aspect of its success can be credited to the casting of Will Smith as Deadshot. The combination of blockbuster star and a comic book movie was a match made in heaven for both parties involved. But a lot has changed since 2016, especially at Warner Bros. and DC. With James Gunn coming over from Marvel to direct the Suicide Squad sequel, Will Smith apparently won't be returning and the director already has a replacement in mind.

According to THR, Idris Elba is the director's first and only choice to replace Smith as Deadshot. Last week it had been reported that Smith would not be returning for the sequel due to scheduling conflicts, but speculation has recently hinted the actor may just have not wanted to return to the role. Issues such as the controversy that originally had Gunn removed from Guardians of the Galaxy 3, as well as the overall unclear vision at DC right now are rumored to have played a factor. Its worth mentioning that new recently broke Smith will be starring in a biopic called King Richard about the father of Venus and Serena Williams, so this may also be the project standing in the way of him returning as Deadshot.

With Elba possibly now taking over the role, its becoming more and more apparent DC has no problem recasting their lead characters. With Ben Affleck announcing he will be replaced by a younger Batman, and rumors that Henry Cavill may not be returning as Superman, its no surprise Deadshot is fair game. We do know however that the studio does want Margot Robbie to return as Harley Quinn, which seems more likely given she's already starring in their Birds of Prey movie next year. 

Its hard to tell what exact roster Gunn will be going with for this movie, as it was originally believed this would be more of a reboot than anything else. The return of Deadshot and Harley Quinn made sense given the marketable and the actors behind the role, but it seems Gunn's still really keen on including the character regardless of Smith's departure. While Idris Elba doesn't exactly have the huge level of stardom Smith has, he's certainly made a name for himself on the big screen. With roles as Heimdall in the Thor series, Pacific Rim, Star Trek Beyond, and the upcoming Hobbs and Shaw, another big budget action movie seems right up his ally.

So how do you feel about Idris Elba playing Deadshot? Are you disappointed Will Smith won't be reprising the role? Let us know below!

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Matt Reeves' 'The Batman' Lands July 2021 Release Date; Ben Affleck Is Officially Out

For almost a year now, there's been speculation regarding Ben Affleck vacating the role of Batman in Matt Reeves' upcoming standalone movie. Originally Affleck was set to star and direct the movie which would've featured Joe Manganiello's Deathstroke as the villain, but since Reeves came on board the project took a whole new route. It will instead apparently focus on a young Bruce Wayne in a more detective style Batman story featuring many members of his famed rogues gallery, and this leaves the search open for a new young actor in their 30s to take up the mantle. The movie has now finally landed an official release date, as well as confirmation from Affleck via Twitter that he won't be returning under the cowl.

The upcoming plans for the DCEU have been up in the air for quite a while now, and its still hard to tell what they're doing exactly. These release dates for three of their upcoming projects are the first bit of solid news we've gotten in a while with The Batman, James Gunn's The Suicide Squad, and DC Super Pets all hitting theaters in 2021. The animated film DC Super Pets will come out May 21st, followed by The Batman on July 25th, and The Suicide Squad on August 6th. This seems reminiscent of DC's plan back in 2016, when they released both Batman v. Superman and the original Suicide Squad in the same summer.

While this at least provides a bit of structure and adds to the current DC schedule of this year's Shazam! and Joker, followed by next year's Wonder Woman 1989, its still hard to tell if these movies are actually in the DCEU. Following the success of James Wan's Aquaman this past December which made little reference to the expanded universe or past films like Justice League, it seems this is the route the studio will be taking. They'll apparently be more focused on giving characters their own separate movies rather then trying to connect them all to a larger universe. 

The Batman itself could still be a story of a young version of Ben Affleck's Batman, but it seems unlikely given how restricting that would be on Matt Reeves creatively. Its more likely that the movie will stand on its own as a Batman story with characters not featured in the other films (Minus necessities like Alfred), all cast by Reeves. Several names have been thrown around for the role of the new young Batman including recent fan favorites like Oscar Isaac, Richard Madden, Armie Hammer, Jake Gyllenhaal, Jack O'Connell, Robert Pattinson, and Ben Barnes. Warner Bros. apparently want a familiar face for the project, so it'll be interesting to see who they end up going with. 

So are you happy DC is moving on from Ben Affleck's Batman? Who would you like to see take on the mantle of the caped crusader? Let us know below!

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DC Have Tapped Former Marvel Director James Gunn To Write And Possibly Direct 'Suicide Squad 2'

I have to admit, few things surprise me anymore when it comes to comic book movie news. But this right here I can honestly say I didn't see coming. After being controversially fired by DC and Marvel Studios following the unearthing of tweets made before his days as a blockbuster director, James Gunn was to have no involvement with the already planned Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Actors from the director's acclaimed film series and fans alike voiced there displeasure with this decision, but it was ultimately made clear Disney had no intention of rehiring him. With Gunn seemingly out of a job, comic book fans joked DC could afford to take the gamble and hire him. Yet none of us actually thought they'd do it, with Gunn now apparently involved with the development of the Suicide Squad sequel.

The news comes courtesy of The Wrap who report that Gunn will not only be writing the script for the movie, but is also in talks to direct it. Previously Gavin O'Connor (Warrior) was believed to be on board to helm the project, taking the reins from David Ayer (Fury). Ayer of course has voiced his problems with the first film and how it was received critically, and how the original cut had been modified through the the heavy involvement of Warner Brothers. This included the controversial ending, depiction and overall screen time of Jared Leto's Joker, and more tonal issues that just created another roadblock for the DC film universe.

With all the controversy aside, Gunn is of course an extremely talented and creative director credited with making the MCU's cosmic universe what it is today. Gunn took a group of relatively unknown comic book characters like the Guardians of the Galaxy and made them into household names, with a creative and fun approach to the soundtrack and design of the world, as well as a great dynamic between the group of actors he cast. This in many ways was what DC was trying to replicate with the first Suicide Squad movie, so it only seems right to get the guy whose already proven he can do it correctly.

Reports have even suggested the Gunn's adaption of Suicide Squad may be a reboot, with roles possibly recast or a new group of characters being introduced. The first movie did in fact have some big names on board including Will Smith and Margot Robbie, so I'm not sure DC would be willing to give them up especially considering what they could do with a script written by Gunn. Smith and Robbie were both considered standouts of the first movie and have expressed interest in reprising their roles, and its already been suggested we would be seeing roster changes in the sequel. Only time will tell what approach Gunn decides to take, but it'll apparently be a stark departure from what O'Connor originally had planned.

So how do you feel about James Gunn directing Suicide Squad 2? Do you think this was the right project for him? Did Marvel make a mistake letting him go? Let us know below!

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