It’s been nearly 50 years since DC Comics and Marvel Comics published Superman vs. The Amazing Spider-Man: The Battle of the Century in 1976, the first-ever intercompany crossover between the rival publishers. (1975’s MGM’s Marvelous Wizard of Oz was the first DC-Marvel co-production.) In the decades since, the superheroes and supervillains of the DC and Marvel universes have crossed over dozens of times, including 1996’s DC Versus Marvel, the merged Amalgam Comics imprint co-owned by DC and Marvel, 1999’s Superman/Fantastic Four, and the upcoming Batman/Deadpool and Deadpool/Batman to be published by DC and Marvel, respectively.
But that’s comics. What about a DC/Marvel crossover movie? James Gunn — who has contributed to both the DC Universe and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, having helmed The Suicide Squad and Superman for the former and the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy for the latter — has been open to the idea even before taking the reins of DC Studios in 2022.
“We’ve talked about it a billion times. That could easily happen, but simultaneous to that, I think it would be interesting,” Gunn told Rolling Stone in a profile of the DC Studios co-chief, who has a copy of the Superman vs. The Amazing Spider-Man comic book in his office. “But I also think people are a little over it.”
“I think people wanna see good stories with their superheroes and that’s what matters. And they wanna see different types of stories with their superheroes. And people love superheroes. That’s obvious, but they need more variety, and they need just more quality storytelling,” Gunn explained. “And just having Spider-Man and Superman team up isn’t gonna do it if it’s sh-t. So it’s gotta come from a real place, and it’s really hard to make that work.”
Warner Bros., which owns DC, and Disney, which owns Marvel, have collaborated before on the big screen: 1988’s Who Framed Roger Rabbit featured cartoon characters from the Looney Tunes and Disney stables, even pairing up Bugs Bunny and Mickey Mouse (with the mandate that the two mascots share equal screen time).
For Gunn to green light a potential DC vs. Marvel movie, there would have to be a purpose beyond making money.
“I did Superman because I loved the character. I was excited about writing that movie,” Gunn said of the first DC Studios film, which he wrote, directed, and produced. “If I were to write a Superman-versus-Spider-Man movie, is it a concept I’m gonna be like, ‘Oh, yeah, this could be a great film’? Or am I doing it because ‘Oh, yeah, people want to see Superman and Spider-Man team up’?”
“For me, it would have to be — if we ever did that, it would have to be under someone who thought it was gonna be awesome and wasn’t just a cash grab, because I’m just not into that,” he added.
In 2021, Gunn revealed he “talked about” a Harley Quinn/Groot movie with the heads of DC Films (at the time headed by Walter Hamada) and Marvel Studios (Kevin Feige). “It’s like everybody’s open to everything,” Gunn said at the time, “but whether anything would ever happen, who knows? But the idea of being able to bring Marvel and DC together in a movie, that would be really fun for me.”
Gunn later clarified that “I don’t think it’s likely, but I don’t think it’s an impossibility, either.” In a tweet, Gunn noted that “constantly seeing crossovers & mashups is less enchanting to me than a strong story.”
DC Studios’ Superman, written and directed by Gunn, opens only in theaters July 11.
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