Rumor: Could James Gunn Adapt ‘Thunderbolts?’

Could you imagine a James Gunn Thunderbolts movie? A few days ago, director James Gunn, the man behind the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy film, was asked an interesting question on his formspring account. The question read, “If you could write/direct any other property of film, comic, book, tv show, etc, what would you choose?”

Gunn responded with a simple list, containing three names. We3, Hit-Monkey, and Thunderbolts.

For those unfamiliar with the Thunderbolts team, they are another Marvel super-team that was originally created by Kurt Busiek and Mark Bagley back in 1997. The twist is that the team is composed of super-villains who are forced to act as superheroes.

At times the roster has been composed of some of the more underrated villains and heroes, but others have found the team populated by some of the biggest A-list villains that Marvel has to offer, including Venom, Bullseye, and the Green Goblin himself. After Marvel’s Civil War event, the ongoing Thunderbolts series was one of the most interesting books that the company had to offer.

Hit-Monkey is another Marvel character, and a much more recent one at that, only debuting back in 2010. The character is pretty much what you’d expect. A monkey who is trained to become an assassin of assassins, hunting down the most dangerous killers the world has to offer. This eventually brought him into conflict with Deadpool.

To be quite honest, I’d never heard of We3 before, but it sounds very impressive and intriguing. It’s a story of animals who are turned into war machines by the government, but escape and try to find their way home. It’s written by Grant Morrison, one of the most respected writers in the comic book industry, and illustrated by artistic great Frank Quitely. The Amazon page has a whopping total of 62 5-Star reviews. As recently as 2009 there were attempts to get a movie adaptation together, but nothing ever came of it.

I think that James Gunn that would be a good fit for any one of these projects. Of course, at the end of the day, this is just his wish-list. There’s been no confirmation that any of these projects are in development, but in the case of Thunderbolts, I’m sure it’s just a matter of time. Marvel will eventually have a villain or villain-team a film, and a James Gunn Thunderbolts movie would be a great choice. There’s a lot of potential for them.

As amusing as the concept is, it’s not likely that we’ll be seeing a Hit-Monkey film anytime soon. To tell the truth, if we did get a solo film for Hit-Monkey before we got a Black Panther movie, I think I’d give up completely on Marvel. On the other hand, I’m now determined to get my hands on a copy of We3. This sounds like a story I can’t wait to read.

What do think about this idea? Would you be excited to see a James Gunn Thunderbolts movie or the other two properties? Of the three he mentioned, which would you like to see adapted first? Do you know about any other projects that Gunn would be a good choice to adapt? Why don’t you just tell us what you think in the comments below?

Source: MTV