Filmmaker James Gunn has been very active on social media during the lockdown, often organizing Q&As with fans and responding to queries on social media. One such query came from a fan recently, who asked if Gunn would direct an Avengers movie someday. Gunn answered the question in the negative through his Instagram Stories page.
“I haven’t been asked, but I wouldn’t do it if I was.”
With that, James Gunn has effectively shut the door on making an Avengers movie. Although the filmmaker does not elaborate, there are a few possible reasons why he might have opted for a definite ‘No’ instead of the ‘Maybe’ that is used by most comic book movie directors when asked such a question.
One reason could be the sheer hard work that goes into making an Avengers movie. Joss Whedon famously admitted that making Avengers: Age of Ultron broke him to a certain extent due to the amount of work he had to do to make the film happen. The Russo brothers, who have directed every Avengers movie since have also spoken feelingly about the herculean task of managing a story stuffed with dozens of main characters and interlocking storylines.
Another reason for Gunn’s disinterest could be his strained relationship with Disney. The filmmaker was unceremoniously fired by Disney from the MCU while working on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. After a huge outcry from fans and the movie’s cast, Disney reinstated Gunn to the franchise. Although Gunn has since said there is no ill will between himself and the Mouse Empire, it would be understandable that Gunn does not want to extend his partnership with a company that would be willing to dismiss him so easily.
Finally, there is the DCEU, which has lured Gunn onto its team recently. Gunn is in charge of the soft reboot of the Suicide Squad franchise, and there are rumors that Warner Bros. wants Gunn to take on a more central role in the development of the DCEU, possibly along the lines of Kevin Feige in the MCU. If Gunn were to take up such a responsibility, he would have no time left for other projects, let alone something as massive as an Avengers film.
Whatever the reason, it seems Gunn’s days at the MCU are numbered. The filmmaker is helming the final movie in the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy and has declared he has no intention of making any more movies in the franchise after that. Instead, Gunn will be taking his unique filmmaking sensibilities to the DCEU, and using them for The Suicide Squad, releasing next year.
In the meantime, the MCU is gearing up to get on for a while without an Avengers movie, or any sort of a multi-hero franchise team-up. Instead, the focus for the next few years will be on introducing new characters to the cinematic universe, the most prominent among them being the X-Men and the Fantastic Four. This story originated on James Gunn’s Instagram.