*UPDATE* James Gunn may direct Marvel's 'Guardians of the Galaxy'

*UPDATE* Apparently Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden either are out of the running or never were in contention. It's starting to sound more and more like James Gunn's job to lose.*

The Guardians of the Galaxy are different than most other superteams in the Marvel Universe. They're a bunch with a lot of quirky elements that when looked at objectively has no business gelling. A talking raccoon, for instance, along with a sentient plant creature, space-faring adventures, hardcore intergalactic soldiers, and space cops. It's just a really weird mix, and so one of the big topics of discussion has been who Marvel could find to direct such a film.

Turns out Marvel has a guy in mind, as THR reports that James Gunn is at the top of their shortlist to take on the gig. It would be his biggest film by far, and on the surface he seems like nice fit. Gunn last directed the low-budget crimefighting flick, Super, and in 2006 he gave us the horror/sci-fi comedy, Slither. But what probably put him at the head of the pack was his script for the superhero comedy, The Specials, which starred a totally random cast of Rob Lowe, Judy Greer, Jamie Kennedy, Thomas Haden Church, and more surprise faces. It's actually kind funny, and is mostly a send up of superheroes in general. So the guy knows his way around oddball humor and action. No deals are in place yet, and apparently there are still others in contention. If you need an example of the scope of Marvel's search, note that Peyton Reed(Bring It On) and the duo of Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck(Half Nelson, It's Kind of a Funny Story) are also on the list.

Whoever gets the job is going to take on what I believe to be the most integral film in Marvel's Phase Two plans because the Guardians of the Galaxy have more ties to upcoming enemy, Thanos, than anyone else. Chris McCoy is currently writing the script for a planned August 1st 2014 release.