10 MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE Directors Who Started with Scary Movies
Mike Sprague
|
Marvel movies are all the rage these days. Go figure. Most are cool as f*ck. And I think I know why. Starting with Richard Donner’s (The Omen) Superman (1978), Hollywood loves to hire horror movie directors for big-budget projects. Why? Because horror filmmakers know the price of a penny. And how to make it stretch. So, here’s a list of big Marvel Cinematic Universe directors who started with small scary movies.
Check out the full (alphabetical) list below!
10. Shane Black
Shane Black is famous for penning action-comedies like Lethal Weapon and The Last Boy Scout. But the made got his start co-writing the screenplay for director Fred Dekker’s monster mash The Monster Squad. Not to mention starring in Predator. This was all before he served as the director of Iron Man 3 with Robert Downey, Jr.
09. Kenneth Branagh
Before to brought Chris Hemsworth’s Thor down to Earth for a rumble with Natalie Portman, actor-director Kenneth Branagh lent his prestigious talents to Columbia’s sweeping adaptation of Mary Shelley’s timeless novel, Frankenstein. Branagh also gets bonus points for snagging Robert DeNiro (Cape Fear) to play the monster.
08. Scott Derrickson
Scott Derrickson kicked off his career directing the fifth installment in the Hellraiser series, Hellraiser: Inferno before stepping up to the big time with fright flicks such as The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Sinister, and Deliver Us from Evil. That was all before he broke into the major leagues with Doctor Strange starring Benedict Cumberbatch.
07. James Gunn
James Gunn is a name we all know well. That’s because Gunn wrote Dawn of the Dead, Scooby-Doo, Scooby-Doo: Monsters Unleashed, and also penned-directed Slither. All before delivering Marvel’s best movie, Guardians of the Galaxy. Not to mention Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 with Kurt Russell (Big Trouble in Little China).
RELATED: New Marvel BLADE Movie May Introduce Daywalker’s Daughter, Fallon Grey
06. Joe Johnston
Joe Johnston is mostly known for kid’s movies like Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, The Rocketeer, The Pagemaster, Jumanji, Hidalgo. But he also directed The Wolfman with Benicio Del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, Emily Blunt, and Hugo Weaving. This was before bringing Captain America: The First Avenger to life on the big screen.
05. Sam Raimi
Sam Raimi needs no introduction. He’s directed some of the best horror films of all time. These include The Evil Dead, Evil Dead II, Darkman, Army of Darkness, and Drag Me to Hell. On top of directing the Tobey Maguire Spider-Man trilogy, he’s also taking the lead on the MCU sequel, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
04. Cate Shortland
Cate Shortland is best known around these parts for directing the 2017 Australian-French psychological thriller-horror film Berlin Syndrome starring Teresa Palmer and Max Riemelt. Marvel has since handed Shortland the reins of the upcoming Black Widow movie with Scarlett Johansson, Florence Pugh, and David Harbour.
03. Taika Waititi
Taika Waititi co-directed the vampire horror-comedy, mockumentary What We Do in the Shadows. That was before bringing the God of Thunder back to big-screen in Thor: Ragnarok. He’s also returning behind the camera for the upcoming sequel, Thor: Love and Thunder starring Christian Bale as Gorr the God Butcher.
02. Jon Watts
Jon Watts helmed the Eli Roth-produced horror-comedy Clown. Not to mention the killer thriller Cop Car with Kevin Bacon. That was all before moving on to Marvel and Sony’s current Spider-Man films, Homecoming and Far From Home. Not to mention the upcoming Spider-Man: No Way Home and the upcoming Fantastic Four reboot.
01. Joss Whedon
Joss Whedon penned the scripts for both Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Alien Resurrection. He also created the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series. That was all before he tackled Marvel’s epic team-up flicks The Avengers and Avengers: Age of Ultron.
Bonus: Justin Benson & Aaron Moorhead
Bonus points go to Justin Benson & Aaron Moorhead. The team behind Resolution, Spring, The Endless, and Synchronic are currently working on the new Marvel and Disney+ series Moon Knight with Oscar Isaac (Ex Machina, Annihilation, Dune) and writer Jeremy Slater (The Lazarus Effect, Pet, Death Note, FOX’s The Exorcist).
***
What horror movie director would you like to see take on a Marvel movie?
Make sure to let us know in the comments below or on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram! You can also hit me up over on Twitter @MikeSpregg325.
Categorized:News
