7 Comic Book Movies Waiting In The Wings

It wasn’t long ago that the Deadpool movie was D.O.A. After a horrible adaptation of the character in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, it seemed that Fox films had given up on the idea of utilizing Deadpool in another film ever again. Fortunately for the world at large, director Tim Miller and the fans never gave up on the merc with a mouth.

After leaked test footage for a Deadpool movie hit the web last year, a frenzy broke out and Fox could no longer ignore the powerful mutant they had allowed to languish in their property backlog. A film was pushed into production starring the original actor who brought Wade Wilson to life in all his glory, Ryan Reynolds. With all of this in mind, we at Quirk are wondering, who's next after Deadpool? 

Queen and Country

One of the greatest tales of the spy game ever is Greg Rucka’s seminal comic Queen and Country. Following the exploits of Tara Chance as she runs insanely difficult and dangerous missions for MI-6, this action pack comic lasted for thirty-two issues. Chance can also be found in three prose novels. Her film debut was announced a couple of years ago with Ellen Page attached in the lead role. Unfortunately the script went back into re-writes and nothing much has been heard since.

Dredd 2

Judge Dredd has had two shots at onscreen fame. The first film to bring the titular character to theaters was a laughable dud starring Sylvester Stallone and Rob Schneider. Then in 2012 fans were rocked by the brutal world of Mega City One in the Karl Urban vehicle, Dredd. Fans and critics alike loved this new take on the 2000 AD character. Sadly, the box office did not reflect the film’s greatness. Petitions have been bandied about in an attempt to get a bone crunching sequel to a great adaptation but so far, nothing has come of it. Who knows, maybe we will get lucky and Netflix will pick up the property for a movie or TV show.

Hellboy 3

Yet another sequel which has been stuck in limbo, Hellboy 3 is probably never going to happen. Once again, the preceding films were well received, but the box office numbers were simply not enough to warrant an immediate greenlight on the picture. Guillermo Del Toro, the director of the first two films got wrapped up in other projects and nobody else has taken up the helm for the third outing. From time to time, some person involved in the first two films will claim that the final installment in the series is coming our way, but it seems best for fans to accept that this may well be a pair of films and not a trilogy.

Black Widow

People have been dying to see Scarlett Johansson’s Avenger finally get her own stand-alone mission. Having stolen the show in four Marvel films already, it is shocking that we have not yet seen her infiltrating a Hydra base all by her lonesome. It came as quite a shock when the female led movie announced for Marvel’s Phase three was Captain Marvel, but the fans of the leather clad super spy have not given up hope. Last season of Agent Carter revolved heavily around the Red Room where Natasha Romanov was trained. More importantly, the Russo brothers, who did an amazing job with the character in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, have announced their interest in directing a solo film. We may see some Soviet spy action sometime in the not so distant future.

Planet Hulk

Hulk has had a tumultuous run on the big screen. Another victim of a bad first solo film, Ang Lee’s film Hulk is almost unwatchable. When Marvel regained the rights to the character, they tried again with Ed Norton leading the charge. This version of the mighty green giant also did not have the best of receptions. It was only when Mark Ruffalo took over the role that the character really warmed viewers hearts. Great as a part of a larger team, it is hard to say if Hulk really has what it takes to make it as a solo character. His best bet though is if he gets launched into space to fulfill his comic book destiny as the ruler of a distant planet.

Spawn       

Spawn is definitely a product of the ‘90s. A comic built mostly on the incredible visuals of creator Todd McFarlane, there isn’t much to the plot. A basic good versus evil tale which revolves around a dead soldier who makes a deal with the devil to get home to his family, Spawn works best on the level of super fun and action-packed. Brought to the big screen in an adaptation nearly twenty years ago, the film version of Spawn was a bit disjointed. The movie suffered from special effects which simply weren’t up to the task. With the advancements in motion capture and post production, there is no doubt that the new film McFarlane has been promising for years could totally destroy the box office.

The Crow

Possibly the hardest film in this list to get made, a remake of The Crow has been bouncing around for years. Though the original adaptation of James O’Barr’s tragic tale of loss and revenge is a cult classic, there is still a faction looking to bring the sad saga of Eric Draven to a new audience. It is hard to say if this film will ever be made as the series seems to be somewhat cursed. During the filming of the original movie, actor Brandon Lee was accidently shot and killed. A series of sequels were made revolving around new characters and staring new actors, but none of them seemed to capture the audience in the same way as the original. The most recent attempt to make a new version starring Luke Evans fell through not too long ago. Perhaps it is time to let this one go and simply remaster and re-release the classic.