With all the “comic books being adapted into a movie” stories, it’s nice to find an adaptation that is also helping a cause. Such is the case with the comic series ‘Superior.’ In a press release yesterday, it was announced that Matthew Vaughn (‘X-Men: First Class’, ‘Kick Ass’) has just acquired the film rights to bring Mark Millar’s comic book series ‘Superior’ to the big screen.
This isn’t the first time Millar and Vaughn have worked together. Fans of Millar’s work know that they collaborated together for ‘Kick Ass’. And although it has been said that Vaughn won’t be directing a ‘Kick Ass’ sequel (according to Millar it’s because Vaughn has become well known and the franchise can’t afford him now), they are working together again to bring this project to life and hoping to turn it into a Hollywood blockbuster franchise.
Millar describes the storyline of ‘Superior’ as “… about a kid who’s been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis getting a magic wish for whatever he desires. And his wish is to become the big screen superhero he’s always loved. This superhero is a tip of the hat to all the golden age greats, a romantic character slightly out of time, whom the modern world doesn’t have much interest in. He’s been around for decades, in comics, movies, television shows and lunchboxes, but nobody cares anymore. They’ve just tried rebooting him with a big new movie, but even this under-performs and he’s almost a forgotten character. He’s an American icon, but tied to an America that’s been left behind… Like his creation back in the 30s, he appears just when America needs him most…It’s actually a very emotional story. It’s got massive action set-pieces, super-villains, aliens, robots and all the things you might expect, but at its core, it’s a morality fable.” And of course, as with all wishes and superheroes, there is a price to pay with these newfound powers.
In the press release yesterday, Millar talks about the inspiration for Simon:
“I wanted to write about a superhero with a disability and I chose MS because it’s something that touched one of my school-friends growing up. I’m acutely aware of the unexpected way the disease can strike anyone and the enormous difficulties it can cause. Superhero stories are essentially wish-fulfillment fantasies and nothing seemed more powerful to me than a little boy with a magic wish not only wanting to walk again, but to fly.”
‘Superior’ first made waves in the comic book world this time last year and has been described as ‘Big’ meets ‘Superman.’ In fact, issue 5 was just released yesterday and it’s been touted that it is a must read in the series as it contains a shocking twist.
In addition to the film news, the press release also mentions that ‘Superior’ will be used as a “spokesperson” of sorts for the National MS Society to help bring awareness of MS to the public and to encourage them to join the MS movement and help find a way to cure the disease.
It hasn’t been said whether Vaughn will direct, write or just produce the movie nor is there any news about who will play ‘Superior.’ At one point, Jon Hamm’s (‘Mad Men’) name came up as a possible actor for the role. Of course, since this news is still very new and a screenplay writer has yet to be assigned, once we hear more about ‘Superior’s’ progress, we’ll let you know!
