Marvel's Movie About A Talking Raccoon Will Be Directed By James Gunn

Now that Marvel has kicked us in the nuts by announcing that we’ll have to wait until 2015 for the Avengers sequel, we have no choice but to hunker down and get by on the excitement of the sequels to the individual character films like Iron Man 3, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and Thor: Dark World, as well as whatever is happening with The Incredible Hulk. Of course we also have the mysterious Guardians of the Galaxy film now, which lost a little more mystery over the weekend with the announcement that James Gunn will direct.

Gunn, who is not the really annoying fashion guy as I first thought, previously wrote and directed Super, which starred Rainn Wilson as the Crimson Bolt, and because of his “geeky sensibilities” Marvel is convinced he can tell this story well.

Guardians of the Galaxy will be Marvel’s greatest challenge, though, at least throughout these first two phases. It’s primarily a space-set adventure featuring various creatures, including a badass gun-toting racoon. The latest plot synopsis claims the film will be “about a U.S. pilot who ends up in space in the middle of a universal conflict and goes on the run with futuristic ex-cons who have something everyone wants.” It’s a tough sell, but Gunn is an inspired choice and one we applaud. (Via Movies.com)

As we’ve previously discussed, this is a really ballsy film in general. With this latest news, it just got about 100-times ballsier. I like the story idea – a lost Earth pilot ends up in the middle of a galactic battle – a lot, because it vaguely reminds me of The Last Starfighter, which in turn reminds me of Star Crunch, which is the greatest snack cake ever made.

However, as has been our concern since this film was announced – and despite how people choose to read this – we’re still talking about a movie about a team of alien vigilantes, including a tree man and a talking raccoon. I don’t have a prediction as to how Gunn will do, but no matter how anyone spins this idea to me, I still can’t stop thinking about this…

Ah, the 80’s. When it was acceptable to make movies about women having sex with ducks.