James Gunn Wants To Make THUNDERBOLTS For Marvel!

If the early reception is any indication, Guardians of the Galaxy is looking to be one of Marvel’s biggest hits, and for director James Gunn, that will secure him unlimited power. Well, not unlimited, but as far as Marvel Studios goes, he’ll have a secure future. Work will likely begin soon on a Guardians sequel, and there are even rumors that Gunn will take over on Avengers 3, but there’s one other Marvel property that Gunn has his sights on helping. Here was his response when Screenrant asked if he’d be able to do a Thunderbolts movie if Guardians is successful.

Thunderbolts? I will tell you, one time I was saying to Kevin [Feige], we were sitting on set together on one of the days he visited and I said, ‘You know, I really want to make Thunderbolts,’ and he said, ‘James, if Guardians does well you’ll be able to do whatever you want so we’ll see what happens.

There have been many iterations of the Thunderbolts since they were introduced in 1997. The original group was the Masters of Evil disguised as heroes, although many of the members eventually left the group to sincerely become heroes. In recent years, the different Thunderbolts teams have often been criminals and anti-heroes working for the government in a reform program. It’s like DC’s Suicide Squad, except Marvel’s U.S. government actually gives a crap about rehabilitation. The most recent team is a non-government supported strike group consisting of Red Hulk, The Leader, Elektra, Punisher, Deadpool and Venom (Flash Thompson), although thanks to Sony and Fox, we’ll never see the latter two them on screen with the team.

If Thunderbolts does eventually get made, they should go with the more recent interpretations. It would be cool to see several Marvel villains team up with anti-heroes on discreet missions. I doubt any of the big leaguers like Loki or Red Skull would work (they’re too obsessed with world conquest), but off the top of my head I could see Winter Soldier and Abomination joining the team. It would also be a good opportunity to introduce some grittier heroes into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, like Ghost Rider, Punisher or Blade. They may not be Avengers material, but they’re certainly willing to get their hands dirty.

The main problem this film would face is portraying its villains in a sympathetic way, specifically wanting to find redemption. Sony is attempting to do this with Sinister Six, and so far it sounds anything but appealing (how killing Spider-Man will earn them redemption makes no sense). This would be a difficult endeavor for Gunn, but then again, with Guardians he’s taken a group of C and D-list characters, including an anthropomorphic tree and talking raccoon, and potentially made one of Marvel’s most successful films with them. If anyone can makes a Thunderbolts movie work, he’s the man for the challenge.

SOURCE: Screen Rant