James Gunn is now the co-CEO of DC Studios, sharing the responsibilities of developing new DC movies and TV shows with Peter Safran. But before this, he was an MCU director who helmed the three Guardians of the Galaxy movies. In a new interview, Gunn revealed that there were plans to develop multiple Guardians spin-offs but most of them ultimately didn’t materialize.
James Gunn’s Marvel spin-off ideas included a Rocket and Groot series
During his latest appearance on Josh Horowitz’s Happy Sad Confused podcast, Gunn named three Guardians spin-offs that were in consideration for development at Marvel: a show about the Ravagers, a project about Rocket and Groot, and Legendary Star-Lord.
Horowitz asked if there was anything Gunn thought he didn’t get to explore with the Guardians and mentioned the Ravagers series, presumably a project about the eponymous interstellar criminal syndicate.
“There’s so many,” the Superman director said in response. “I mean yeah, the Ravagers show, I thought could be a fun thing. Legendary Star-Lord really, frankly, we had a whole idea for that. And then Rocket & Groot…,” he added.
Gunn explained that Rocket and Groot eventually became Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. “To be honest, Rocket & Groot is what Guardians 3 was,” he stated. “So, I wanted to do Rocket & Groot first, and then I was talked into doing Guardians 3 instead of Rocket & Groot. I knew I needed to tell Rocket’s story,” Gunn added.
When asked if he would serve as a producer on the potential next Guardians projects, Gunn stated that he was unsure what the legal answer was but made it clear that the studio and the people associated with it had his blessing. “I’m excited for them to go do whatever they want to with Guardians,” he said, adding that he would love for Marvel “to take those characters and see more stories with them.”
Gunn also disclosed that Chris Pratt, who portrays Peter Quill / Star-Lord, had reached out for his input. “Chris has my blessing, they all have my blessing. Chris keeps saying, ‘Is this okay?’ and I’m like dude, whatever, I’m totally okay with whatever you do. You go do it. He is one of my very close friends, and I would love to see him be Star-Lord again,” he elaborated.
Notably, the GoTG Vol. 3 came out in May last year.
