It was bound to happen. Every single director that seems to have a hit film come out of nowhere is eventually asked the question about when they’ll tackle a superhero film. And even though Bradley Cooper is no stranger to Hollywood, he’s still a relatively new director, with only “A Star is Born” under his belt (despite that film’s incredible reviews and Oscar buzz). So naturally, he was asked about directing a superhero film for a franchise that he’s intimately familiar with.
In a recent interview with JOE, Cooper was asked about the idea of taking over the “Guardians of the Galaxy” franchise after James Gunn’s recent dismissal. Sadly, if you’re hoping that Cooper would transition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe for his directorial follow-up, then prepare yourself for disappointment.
“In directing it?”, he replied. “I could never direct anything that I didn’t write. No, I could never direct anything that I didn’t write.”
For those not familiar with Cooper’s attachment to the ‘Guardians’ franchise, the actor lends his vocal talents to one of the most popular characters in the film, Rocket. However, from what can be gathered, his contribution is ever really added in a voiceover booth and is not on set. For motion capture purposes and on-set filming, Gunn’s brother Sean Gunn dons a bright green spandex suit to play Rocket with the other actors.
READ MORE: Sean Gunn Reveals That Marvel Studios Plans On Using James Gunn’s ‘Guardians 3’ Script
So, for Cooper to take over the franchise would mean he’d take a much more hands-on approach to the franchise, which he hasn’t in the past. Regardless of that, apparently, he’s only interested in directing a project that he writes. And as we are well aware now, Marvel and Disney are using Gunn’s already-written script for the upcoming ‘Guardians 3’ despite the director’s firing. Plus, if Cooper came in and rewrote, fans would probably freak out, as James Gunn’s creative voice has been crucial to the franchise’s success.
Now that the ‘Guardians 3’ question has been answered, we anxiously await an outlet asking him about directing “Green Lantern Corps,” “Man of Steel 2,” or any number of superhero films that are always thrown at directors in interviews. How about we give Cooper a couple completely original films before sacrificing him to at the altar of crazy fandom?