James Gunn Shoots Down Marvel Appearance By A Horror Legend

Guardians of the Galaxy James Gunn has quashed rumors of a certain horror movie legend appearing in his projects.

By Nathan Kamal | Published

James Gunn

James Gunn can be a very playful fellow on social media. He is often prone to posting little teases to the very large fan base dedicated to his work across the MCU and DCEU divide, and for giving a surprising amount of explanation to his creative decisions. However, this time around, the director of the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise was very blunt in his response to whether or not horror legend Jamie Lee Curtis might be appearing in one of his upcoming Marvel projects, as has been rumored. As reported by The Direct, James Gunn responded to the @MCU_Direct Twitter account with a simple and appropriately direct “No.” The original Tweet has since been deleted, but you see the response here

jamie lee curtis

For some context, Jamie Lee Curtis has recently been pretty vocal with some not very nice statements about the Marvel Cinematic Universe in general, and specifically contrasting the recently released Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness with her own film Everything Everywhere All at Once. While James Gunn has not been in the crosshairs of the star of Halloween, Halloween II, and a bunch of others up to Halloween Ends, it does raise the possibility that Curtis is raising some hackles behind the scenes at Marvel Studios. On the other hand, rumors are rumors. If you brought up every actor who is or has been rumored to be in an MCU film, you are pretty much talking about all of Hollywood. 

Of course, sometimes that rumors turn out to be true, like in these cases or this other one. One of the aforementioned upcoming James Gunn projects, The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, has been heavily rumored to have an appearance from another Hollywood legend, Kevin Bacon. Given that Bacon has already been referenced in the Guardians movies by Chris Pratt’s Peter Quill, that seems more likely than not. Bacon is also a bit of a horror legend himself for appearing in the very first Friday the 13th film (he gets shot by an arrow, for the record) as well as director Paul Verhoeven’s Invisible Man riff Hollow Man. We will just have to wait till December when The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special is released on Disney+ to see if we get a surprise visit from the Boy Who Danced Away Oppression himself. 


Even if she is not going to appear in a James Gunn MCU film (or any Marvel project at all, for that matter), Jamie Lee Curtis is doing pretty well for herself. Everything Everywhere All at Once has been a sleeper hit, both critically acclaimed and making a surprising near-$40 million at the box office so far. The Michelle Yeoh-starring science fiction film taps into the same zeitgeist interest in multiversal concepts that seem to be gripping popular imagination; both the MCU and DCEU are heavily utilizing the idea of parallel realities in their upcoming releases, which seems to be making casting decisions a lot easier on them. We will just have to keep our ear to the ground for any new word of a sudden Jamie Lee Curtis vs James Gunn feud developing.