Jenna Fischer's Ex-Husband to Direct Marvel's 'Guardians of the Galaxy'?

Ever since Jon Favreau was put in charge of Iron Man and Robert Downey Jr. was cast as Tony Stark, the Internet has loved to predict when Marvel will fail. Favreau and Downey? Fails. A Hulk reboot with Edward Norton? Fail. Kenneth Branagh, a Shakespearian director, in charge of Thor? Fail. Chris Evans as Captain America? Fail. Bringing the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe together in The Avengers with TV cult creator Joss Whedon directing? Epic fail.

Well, by now it should be quite clear that Marvel doesn't know how to fail when it comes to its Cinematic Universe. Beginning with the first Iron Man right through this past May's The Avengers, Marvel has delivered hit after hit, creating a film franchise that's not only highly ambitious but also highly profitable.

The studio is taking its biggest risk in 2014, bringing Guardians of the Galaxy, a lesser known property that plays heavily in intergalactic fantasy, to the big screen. The Hollywood Reporter reported on Saturday that James Gunn, best known for directing Slither and Super (while also once being married to The Office's Jenna Fischer), is Marvel's top choice to direct Guardians of the Galaxy.

Now, I have to be honest here — I've never seen Slither or Super. Super intrigued me, but Rainn Wilson gets on my nerves, which causes me to carry that grudge against his actual movies too. I had to stop following him on Twitter since I couldn't stand his pious Soul Pancake crap anymore. That said, I don't hold that against Gunn, and while I haven't seen his movies I love to see that Marvel is once again ready to take a risk on a nonconventional director. Guardians of the Galaxy is going to be the biggest risk the studio has taken so far in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, so I guess it's only appropriate that they go all in on a director too.

While Favreau was once the overseer of the Cinematic Universe, it's obvious that Whedon is now the man calling the shots for Marvel. With Guardians of the Galaxy serving as the big lead-in to The Avengers 2, I wouldn't be surprised if Whedon flexes his newly empowered Marvel muscles when it comes to that film too.