This summer, two huge superhero movies are set to do battle at the box office, with DCU reboot Superman launching on July 11 and MCU behemoth The Fantastic Four: First Steps hitting theaters a fortnight later, on July 25. But as the DC and Marvel fandoms spar online, DCU chief James Gunn has said he is uninterested in getting involved in internet rivalry, and would rather focus on all that’s good about each film.
On social network Threads, Gunn was asked if he had any word on The Fantastic Four in the context of fans pitting Marvel and DC against each other.
“They come out two weeks after us,” Gunn replied, “there’s room for us both! I love my friends at Marvel. You can find whatever discussions you’d want to find online. I’d focus on all the positivity around the films instead of getting sucked up in online fan wars.”
Gunn, of course, has a long history with Marvel, having written and directed the much-loved Guardians of the Galaxy series of MCU movies. But he is no stranger to DC, either, having written and directed the well-received 2021 Suicide Squad movie.
Gunn is now co-head of the rebooted DCU alongside Peter Safran, and wrote, directed, and produced Superman. He is steering the DCU in a direction parent company Warner Bros. hopes will result in more success than the previous DCEU enjoyed. To this end, a number of DCU films and TV shows are in the works, and it seems inevitable that DC will clash with Marvel again.
Take, Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, for example. It’s due out June 26, 2026. That’s just over a month before Spider-Man: Brand New Day comes out on 31 July 2026. And in the land of television, DCU has HBO show Lanterns out at some point in 2026, when Marvel Television will have a number of series hit Disney+, including Season 2 of Daredevil: Born Again, and Vision Quest.
For now, though, the focus is very much on Superman and The Fantastic Four: First Steps, with each film under enormous pressure to post huge numbers at the box office. Whatever side of the comic book fence you sit on, July is set to be an awesome month for superhero fans.
And let’s remember, Marvel and DC have joined forces to announce what is sure to be one of the top-selling comic book projects of 2025. The two publishers are teaming on a pair of one-shot crossover specials featuring Batman and Deadpool. That makes this the first genuine crossover between the Marvel and DC Universes in more than 20 years. Best of all, they aren’t stopping with Deadpool/Batman #1 and Batman/Deadpool #1. Marvel and DC are already developing a follow-up crossover for 2026.
Photo by The Chosunilbo JNS/Imazins via Getty Images.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].
