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Marvel Studios has a prime candidate in mind to direct its Guardians of the Galaxy superhero movie, and it's James Gunn. Best known for being the screenwriter of the 2000 remake of Dawn of the Dead and the two live-action Scooby-Doo movies, Gunn also wrote and directed the gross-out horror/comedy Slither and the black comedy Super which starred Rainn Wilson. He also wrote the script for The Specials, a low-budget comedy about a dysfunctional superhero family.

In his THR story, Borys Kit mentions that while Marvel is talking with Gunn and trying to close a deal, the company is also keeping its options open. If a creative impass happens in their contract negotiations with Gunn, Marvel has a Plan B and C: they're also thinking of Peyton Reed (Bring It On) and Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden (Half Nelson) to come aboard and direct GotG.

What Borys' story doesn't say is that Gunn is a close buddy of Joss Whedon, the mastermind behind The Avengers movie and current Übermensch for Marvel's Cinematic Universe. While Gunn has earned his reputation of being able to play with superheroes and big concepts while also keeping their personalities grounded and funny, his friendship with Whedon could help guarantee that a successful deal is reached. Furthermore, the synergy between what happened on-screen in The Avengers movie and how it leads into the cosmic action we'll see in Guardians of the Galaxy will benefit from the boys' close relationship.

Here's one other cool piece of intel: THR notes that a logline for the Guardians movie leaked out last week. It describes the movie's story as about "a U.S. pilot who ends up in space in the middle of a universal conflict and goes on the run with futuristic ex-cons who have something everyone wants."

That's slightly different from the Guardians of the Galaxy origin in the Marvel Comics universe. As for that "something everyone wants," could it be the Infinity Gauntlet?