Superheroes Five: Part 3, Off-brand Superheroes.

Shit, I doubled up on the last two, then lost the gain by having to do this one over two days.
Coudn't do it.
Was up 'til 1:40 am last night, and finally collapsed.
Well, rested up now, and here we go.

And....y'now, this is a fresh category.
No "last year", for this one to guide me.
Going in naked.

All right, so most people on the net know about the DC/Marvel stuff.
I still have to do 'em for the sake of the time capsule though.
Now to the stuff very few if any follow.
The lesser to no-name brands.


Valiant

Valiant was founded by Jim Shooter after he was ousted as Editor-In-Chief at Marvel by corporate fat-cats, and then maligned by ingrate fanboys in the fan rags of the day.

His business partners turned out to be scumbags, who kicked him out of Valiant, ran it into the ground, and then sold it to Acclaim, who ran themselves into the ground, and took Valiant with them.

So, in modern times, some fans got together, and have rebuilt Valiant, resurrected its stable of characters, and they cut a deal with a Chinese company to make movies, and the Valiant/Chinese hybrid has cut a deal with Sony, and bam, now Valiant is not just back, but in the Cinematic Universe business.

Anyhoo, this is what they have coming up for us.


Bloodshot 

About a guy who gets infused with nanites that can fix his body, and now he's invincible, but he has amnesia of his prior life.
He's sort of Punisher with Wolverine's healing factor.
Also, he can morph, and interface with technology.
So toss Odo and Seven of Nine into the mix.

We're getting two of these.


Harbinger

Sort of Valiant's X-Men.
But darker and grittier, with conspiracies, and shadow governments, and black projects, and resistance movements, and such.

We get two of these, then....


Harbinger Wars

Bloodshot and Harbingers team up to....well, looks like he just killed the Harbingers.
That's gonna be a quick ass movie.
Meh, probably either a dream, or an alternate timeline, or the cover is a flat out lie, which they actually did a lot of in the 90's.

Anyhoo, that's just to start.
I'm sure they'll also have to do "X-O Man Of War", who was sort of their Superman.
And then there's "Archer & Armstrong".
But, I'll get more into those if/when the movies happen.
This is all that's on the horizon for now.


Image

Created in the 90's by a bunch of douche-y little Marvel artists who didn't know what they were doing, and thought they were hot shit in a cup, this company has finally evolved into something respectable, and is home to a lot of inspiring creator owned success stories.

They used to regurgitate formula with a hipster edge, now they have a lot of outside the box storytelling you couldn't get done at DC/Marvel.

I've been impressed by their turnaround.

Anyhoo, this is what they've got in store.


Chrononauts

About two buddy scientists who travel time, and broadcast their adventures on TV.
This had a fucking movie option before the first issue of the comic came out!


Officer Downe

About a crazy cop who gets killed and brought back to life by telekinetic means, and is now Jason Voorhees level unkillable, so the police force uses him against super villains.

Supposed to be a pure thrill ride of gleeful gore.
Sounds fun!


Jupiter's Legacy

A multi-generational saga starting in the late 20's of an alternate history, following the linage of  the classic style superheroes up to now.
A sort of meta commentary on the evolution of superheroes.

Sounds interesting.


The Infinite Horizon

A re-telling of Homer's "The Odyssey", set in a bleak dystopian future.


I Kill Giants

Even though they don't call it that, it sounds like a modernized female "Don Quixote".
About a geek girl who gets lost in her little fantasy world, and thinks she fights giants.
Sounds Quixotic to me.

Going to be animated, and by some of the guys who did "Big Hero 6".


Chew

Animated.
About a guy who receives psychic impressions form whatever he eats, even human flesh.
So, he uses this power to solve crimes.
Sounds like "I-zombie", on steroids.

Steven Yeun (Glenn from "The Walking Dead") will play Tony Chu (AKA Chew).

David Tennant will be Mason Savoy.
It was originally supposed to be Robin Williams but...well...


Dark Horse

Another one born in the 90's. They let in indie creators like Image does, but made their big bread and butter on movie licenses.

Their big ones they birthed into the pop-culture world are "Sin City", and "The Mask".
They also created the premise behind "Alien vs Predator".
The comics were vastly better than the movies, trust me.

Here's what they have coming up.


Crash Ryan

About WWII flying aces.
Originally by Epic, a Marvel subsidiary, then revived by Dark Horse.


Blood Brothers

About two buddy party vampires who have to stop the apocalypse.
Michael B. Jordan is on board.


Boom! Studios

Very similar in business strategy to Dark Horse, Boom! was birthed in the early 00's.
Here's their first cinematic offerings.


Lumberjanes

Five teenage girls fight monsters at a summer camp.
Sounds fun.
Bland reaction on my part to a book that's not just a hit, but beloved, I know, apologies, but...sorry, I actually don't read much comics anymore.
I would if I could clone myself, but there just aren't enough hours.
No word on if this is going to be animated or live-action.
No word on casting.


Imagine Agents

"Men In Black", meets "Monsters Inc".
A bureau of agents are tasked with keeping the imaginary friends of children in line.
Animated.
Michael Keaton is on board.


All the rest

Nemesis

This one's a bit up in the air, but I think fan willpower will win in the end to get this one done.
Warner Brothers supposedly has hold of the rights.
This answers "what if Batman snapped, and was the Joker, and Commissioner had to be Batman?".
Well, with names and backstories changed, Nemesis shows us in R rated glory.
From Icon, a Marvel imprint.
Dammit, this shoulda been in the Marvel section.
Ah, well.

And while I'm here in a brief pocket of Marvel-land, I repeat, "Kick-Ass 3", is still dead.


100 Bullets

About...well...click this link for the story.
It's a crime drama.
Tom Hardy is on board.

From Vertigo, which is DC, so...dammit, this should have been in the DC section.

But...now I think of it, "Nemesis", and this are better off split from the shiny happy cape and tights heroes.


Valérian And The City Of A Thousand Planets

Based on a long-running French comic going back to 1967.
About a pair of time-travel agents, one from the 28th century, one from the 11th century.
Luc Besson will direct.


The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen 

Remember that movie that was so bad, it made Sean Connery quit acting?
Well, Fox is undeterred, and is gonna take another crack at it with a reboot.


The Crow

The reboot of this is stuck in a tighter development Hell than "Freddy vs Jason", was.
A million directors, a million stars, a million financiers getting cold feet, they just can't get this done.
I feel like it's dead, but every time I go to bury it, it springs back to life with new development.

I'm not chomping at the bit for this to happen, since the original got it so right, but...before I die of old age, we're getting another one.


Ghost In The Shell

Based on the anime, based on the manga.
Scarlett Johansson will be Motoko.

Asians are already crying "white-washing".
I'm fine as long as they Americanize the character, and don't tell us she's Japanese.
OTOH, Motoko has used remote controlled bodies, and full on swapped into other bodies, so, the Japanese Motoko could turn herself into Johanssen.

As long as they write their way out of it, I don't mind.


Brilliance

About a federal agent with powers vs a powered terrorist.
Based on a series of novels.
Will Smith was attached, but he dropped out due to his deal with DC to be Deadshot.
Noomi Rapace is attached.
They're still looking to replace Smith.


Vicious

Based on a novel.
Ridley Scott bought the film rights.
His production company will make it whether he decides to direct or not.
Haven't heard of any development on it since I heard he acquired the rights.
Plot sounds like "Flatliners", meets "Akira".


Steelheart

Based on a series of novels.
About a world where the super powered people are all villains and conquer the world, and a resistance movement of un-powered humans has to find their weaknesses and stop them.


The Girl In The Spider's Web

The fourth entry in the Millennium (a.k.a."Girl With The Dragon Tattoo") series.

Alicia Vikander (Ex-Machina) will play Lisbeth.

Columbia is rebooting the series starting with the fourth, and working backwards with the originals as prequels.

The fourth novel is controversial, because the author of the first three died with the fourth in rough manuscript form, and his father and girlfriend were fighting each other over the custody and rights to it.
It finally got out of legal limbo, and another writer "finished", it, but the girlfriend says it's whole-cloth made up with none of the original in it.

Well, what matters in the end is if the movie is any good.


Lego Cinematic Universe

Lego Movie is going to have spinoffs and sequels starting with Lego Batman (mention in the DC section).


The Incredibles 2

It's finally happening!!
Brad Bird just started on the script.


Adi Shankar's Gods and Secrets

From the producer of "Dredd", and the fan-films "Punisher: Dirty Laundry", and "Power Rangers Unauthorized".

All I've heard is it's a dark take on superheroes akin to "Watchmen".


Mega Man

See here.
Finally getting his movie.
From Fox.


The Six Billion Dollar Man

Inflation blew up the cost.
They've been trying to get this going since before the SW prequels, and Kevin Smith even did a draft for it.
It's finally going ahead with Mark Wahlberg as the star.


And...DONE!!!


Up next, Trek, Wars, Busters, and all the rest.