Before ‘Suicide Squad,’ James Gunn Was Reportedly Offered ‘Superman’ & Possibly ‘Super Pets’

By all accounts, the marriage between Marvel Studios and James Gunn is completely severed. Now that the filmmaker has moved on to greener pastures with the folks at Warner Bros. and the DCEU, Gunn has firmly put the MCU in his rearview mirror. And judging by a new report, when he was being courted by WB, they were willing to give the director the keys to one of their biggest franchises before he settled on “Suicide Squad.”

According to THR, when Gunn and WB were working out the details about which comic book property the filmmaker would lend his talent to, the studio initially floated the idea of a ‘Superman’ film. Of course, it’s been well-documented that the studio has been back and forth over what it wants to do with the Big Blue Boyscout in light of the ‘Batman v. Superman’/”Justice League” one-two punch that seems to have cratered any fan interest in the character. And having Gunn attached would have definitely drawn some buzz over for a character like Superman, who desperately needs it.

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Alas, as we now know, it wasn’t meant to be, as the report goes on to say that Gunn was actually more interested in Krypto, Superman’s dog, than he was in actually tackling DC’s most powerful hero. And even though the studio is developing a “Super Pets” film, WB and James Gunn decided on “Suicide Squad,” which is obviously a much more natural fit.

The real question is whether or not this is confirmation that WB/DC is still interested in Henry Cavill suiting up for one more go as Superman. Perhaps, if a big-enough name like Gunn was to show interest in the character, the studio would be amped on giving the hero another shot. But at this point, it appears WB is more interested in these other projects, and maybe even “Supergirl,” before crossing the Superman bridge again, with or without Cavill.

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That being said, we’re not sure if a Gunn “Superman” film would really work. Would the filmmaker’s more indie/punk rock sensibilities work for a character like Superman? Guess we’ll never know.