Following the success of The Big Short, which was viewed as a Best Picture contender for this year’s Academy Awards, director Adam McKay is probably in the position of being able to make just about any movie he wants right now. Apparently, he wants to make a superhero movie.
According to Deadline‘s Mike Fleming, McKay will direct an adaptation of Boom! Studios’ comic book Irredeemable for 20th Century Fox. The comic book series written by Mark Waid and illustrated by Peter Krause (then Diego Barreto) ran for 37 issues from 2009 to 2012.
Irredeemable follows The Plutonian, a Superman-like hero who develops a disdain for humanity and begins to assert his power over humanity. With an all-powerful villain lording over the planet, a group of other superheroes called The Paradigmbands together to stop him. But when they can’t, the group eventually turns to The Plutonian’s arch-enemy for help. Imagine Thor going rogue, the Avengers unable to stop him, and Captain America going to Loki to try and save the world. Or maybe a darker, more serious version of Hancock.
McKay has certainly shown he could direct epic action sequences that escalate quickly, as demonstrated by the fight scene in Anchorman. Maybe this is what we’ll see when The Paradigm takes on The Plutonian.
Actually, this sounds like Batman’s greatest fears in Batman v Superman realized, doesn’t it? How is Zack Snyder not on this project? Plenty of DC Comics movies fans would love to see him move on from the Justice League movie.
The script for Irredeemable will be written by Tommy Wirkola, who wrote and directed Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters. McKay and his Gary Sanchez Productions actually produced that film, so there’s obviously a previous working relationship.
Previously known mostly for directing comedies with Will Ferrell — including two Anchorman movies, Talladega Nights, Step Brothers and The Other Guys — along with being a former head writer for Saturday Night Live, McKay has branched out in recent years, taking his comedic touch to action movies and drama. In addition to The Big Short, he rewrote the script (along with Paul Rudd) for Marvel’s Ant-Man and is helping with the story for its sequel, Ant-Man and the Wasp, scheduled for a 2018 release.
McKay’s success with Marvel led to speculation that he would eventually direct a superhero film for the studio. He seemed like a natural choice to direct an Ant-Man sequel, but Peyton Reed is returning to direct that movie. But whether because McKay didn’t want to commit to a Marvel film or the studio preferred other filmmakers to work on upcoming movies like Black Panther, Spider-Man: Homecoming or even Captain Marvel (which does not yet have a director attached), the two never found a match.
So perhaps McKay decided to work on a superhero story that would allow for a bit more freedom. Since Irredeemable isn’t a franchise property with all kinds of licensing and merchandising attached to it, perhaps he can take this movie in directions that a Marvel movie might not allow. I mean, what would really happen if Superman decided to take on the Justice League. Put what happened in Batman v Superman aside. If he had no mercy, it wouldn’t even be a close fight, right? Someone with McKay’s talents could really have some fun with this material.
[Deadline]
