Every once in a while, the Marvel-DC crossover idea comes up, with fans musing on what a movie featuring the Avengers, Superman, Batman, and other DCU characters would feel like. James Gunn is one of them, with the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 writer/director having previously teased what such a crossover would be for him.
Fast-forward to present-day, and James Gunn happens to be the new Kevin Feige of the DCU. He and Peter Safran are the Kevin Feige equivalents at Warner, that is. They’ll oversee the next chapter in the DCU stories, and they’ve started by firing almost everyone from the previous movies.
That’s to say that James Gunn is now in the driver’s seat. He could work with Kevin Feige to make a Marvel-DC crossover movie where the Avengers meet Superman and Batman happen. But if it were to happen, we’d have to wait quite a while. Some spoilers might follow below.
When will the Avengers meet Superman and Batman?
James Gunn talked to Deadline at the Los Angeles Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 world premiere a few days ago. That’s where he addressed a potential Marvel-DC crossover:
The writer/director in charge of the DCU said such an event would happen “in about 10 years. Not today.” He expanded on the matter, adding that Warner has “a whole bunch of other DC movies they need to tell.” But a Marvel-DC crossover “could be cool.”
The comments echo Gunn’s remarks from the Guardians Vol. 3 press tour. Speaking to Fandango about his last Marvel movie, Gunn addressed the possibility of having Marvel characters interact with DC superheroes in the same film.
The now-Warner exec did not mention any superheroes he’d like to have in such a crossover. The story wouldn’t necessarily have to feature the Avengers or the Superman/Batman duo, though most fans would want that.
I think there’s always the possibility of that. I think that would be a fun thing for fans to see. But I do think it’s just about grounding the Marvel and DC universes right now and trying to make them each as strong as possible.
But Gunn also remarked that he and Kevin Feige are “very close friends” who talk “all the time. And that there’s not a case of bad rivalry between Marvel and DC.
The Marvel-DC crossover James Gunn would do
James Gunn promoted a different kind of superhero movie about two years ago. The Suicide Squad reboot he made for Warner. During the press tour for that movie, James Gunn addressed the Marvel-DC movie he’d love to make.
Interestingly, he didn’t mention the Avengers, Superman, or Batman. He’d want Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) and Groot (Vin Diesel) in such a movie. It’s a movie he pitched to both Marvel and DC execs:
Well, I would be really happy to do a Harley Quinn and Groot movie. That would be exciting for me. And not only have I thought about that but I’ve actually talked about that to the heads of both Marvel and DC. But, you know, it’s like, they… you know, everybody’s open to everything, but whether anything would ever happen, who knows? But the idea of being able to bring Marvel and DC together in a movie is, that would be really fun for me.
Back then, Gunn was far from being a decision-maker for the DCU. He acknowledged the hurdles Marvel and Warner would have to go through and the “Berlin Wall of lawyers.” But the whole thing would be “a blast:”
And I know it’s exciting for even the heads of Marvel and DC to think about. Kevin Feige over at Marvel and Toby Emmerich over at Warner Bros. You know, it’s something we all like to dream about. Whether we could ever get through the barrage, the Berlin Wall of lawyers we would need to get through to ever make something like that happen, I don’t know, but it would be a blast.
Gunn is now in a place where he can dream bigger than Harley Quinn and Groot. But before that happens, he has to fix the DCU and make Marvel fans want to see the new Superman and Batman characters in Avengers movies.
As for Marvel, Kevin Feige & Co. have plenty of work to do to repair their own cinematic universe before a Marvel-DC crossover could be in the cards.
