James Gunn Wants To Direct 'Guardians Of The Galaxy 2,' Hulk Connection Denied

Guardians of the Galaxy is still about two weeks away from release, but the buzz on the film has begun. Guardians screened last week for members of the press and the cast and crew have begun to do interviews to promote it. Because the buzz was so strong, and the film boldly declares "The Guardians of the Galaxy will return," talk of course turned to a Guardians of the Galaxy sequel. That poses its own questions. Mainly, who would direct and what would the story be? Gunn was very particular on the press day, saying he'd like to come back and that he feels an ownership over the characters. He and Marvel Studios present Kevin Feige also denied that a Guardians of the Galaxy 2 would include the Hulk, in response to recent rumors. Read quotes from both James Gunn and Kevin Feige below.

In our interview with Gunn, I asked if it would be able to let anyone else play with these characters.

Nope. Nope. [Marvel] will do what they want eventually but I'll have a very hard time letting go of Rocket and Groot.

Talking to Screenrant, though, he was a bit more specific:

I'm actually in a somewhat weird position because if the movie does well, then I'm gonna make the sequel. And if it does okay then, well, I've already been offered other movies but I can only do those other movies if I don't do the sequel, so it's a weird situation.

As for the plot of that movie, some potentially hugely spoiler filled rumors came out a few weeks back regarding the fate of Bruce Banner as The Hulk and how he might end up interacting with the Guardians of the Galaxy. Click there for the specifics but, Gunn himself brought it up to me in the context of another question:

There is no Planet Hulk movie.

The rumor isn't for a Planet Hulk movie specifically though, so I specifically asked Kevin Feige about the story reporting that the Hulk could play a part in the next story. He simply and in a matter of fact fashion said it was "incorrect."

Feige also said the following about a sequel:

I think I know [when it's going to happen] and I think we'll share that at some point. I don't know when we're going to reveal the titles to all those dates that we just put out.

So it seems like, if Guardians of the Galaxy is a hit, we'll see James Gunn back at the helm of the next film, probably released before 2019, but the likelihood of that film featuring the Hulk isn't too good. It would, however, probably lead into a team up with the Green Guy and his friends.

We'll have much, much more from Gunn and Feige in the coming days leading up to Guardians of the Galaxy, and San Diego Comic-Con.