22 Sep – It is finally official: James Gunn is now set to direct "Marvel's Guardians Of The Galaxy", and rewrite Chris McCoy and Nicole Perlman's script, according to Collider.
Gunn recently announced the exciting news on his Facebook page, which is summarised as follows, "For a month or so there's been a lot of Internet speculation about my involvement with "Marvel's Guardians Of The Galaxy". Until now I haven't said anything, because I'm trying to be less expulsive about this project than I am about the rest of my life. But last night I got the go-ahead from Kevin Feige to let you all know that, yes, indeed, I am rewriting and directing "Guardians Of The Galaxy". Kevin, Joss, and all the folks at Marvel have been amazing collaborators so far, and we're committed to bringing you something majestic, beautiful, and unique. I am incredibly excited. I am also incredibly grateful to the fans and the press for all their words of encouragement and support regarding my involvement with this project since the news first leaked."
Considering the source material, Gunn seems to be the most eligible choice for director as he is best known for writing and co-directing the critically acclaimed independent film "Tromeo and Juliet" in 1996, as well as making his directorial debut with the horror comedy "Slither" in 2006, starring Nathan Fillion and Elizabeth Banks.
For those unfamiliar with "Guardians Of The Galaxy", the name represents a fictional team of intergalactic superheroes in books published by Marvel Comics. Members of the "Guardians Of The Galaxy" are Star-Lord, Rocket Raccoon, Drax the Destroyer, Gamora, and Groot, to name a few. The reason for this uncertainty is that similar to other Marvel superheroes, there were a few versions of the team; one based in an alternate universe within the Marvel Comics continuity while the other is based in the mainstream Marvel Universe.
It has also been speculated that Gunn's film will try to incorporate the villain Thanos, in order to further lay the foundation for the sequel to "Marvel's The Avengers". Thanos is the mysterious villain seen at the very end of "Marvel's The Avengers", after the credits. In the comics, Thanos is a massive threat to The Avengers and all other Marvel superheroes, who seeks out the Cosmic Cube a.k.a. the Tesseract and wields the Infinity Gauntlet.
The director of "Marvel's The Avengers" Joss Whedon, had this to say about Gunn and "Marvel's Guardians Of The Galaxy", "He has a very twisted take on it, but it all comes from a real love for the material. It's going to be hard for the humans to keep up. I know he's going to come from left field and I'm going to go, 'What?' And then, 'Of course, why didn't I think of that?' And then I'm going to beat him!"
Gunn is also set to direct "Movie 43", a comedy film comprising of 25 shorts and features a large ensemble cast. The film is set to be released in January 2013 while "Guardians Of The Galaxy" will be released on 1 August 2014.
