As we are all aware, the current trend in Hollywood is to scoop up and option nearly every comic book property or graphic novel possible and turn it into a movie or television show. Of course, this has been met with varying amounts of success. For every The Dark Knight and American Splendor, we get five Constantine's and Fantastic Four's. This new feature has a lofty goal; we hope to educate those without previous knowledge of a comic property to become familiar with franchises that have recently been picked up for a film or television series. In doing so, hopefully we can train the untrained eyes to spot weaknesses in a film's development so that some day, Hollywood bigwigs will have no choice but to produce faithful and quality works based on our favorite sequential art.
Our usual approach to Source Material is to garner the unfamiliar prepared enough to see a film without actually ever reading the original book. While I rather inspire you to read the original material on your own, rather than taking what I say word for word, times are tough and moolah is scarce. I can personally guarantee there will be no spoilers. If you find a spoiler, I give you permission to keep my first born.
Set for release on April 16, 2010 (only one week after our last Source Material feature, The Losers), Kick-Ass is fairly unique in that the rights for a film version were purchased by Brad Pitt's production company, Plan B Entertainment, before the first issue was even released. With a book being put out by creators with names as big as Mark Millar and John Romita Jr., it's a pretty safe bet that whatever they publish will have a pre-installed fanbase, if not also achieve wild critical acclaim. And though it has both of those things, the book has suffered a rough release schedule through Marvel's Icon imprint, and as of this article, has only seen 7 issues. After debuting in April of 2008, the supposed-to-be-monthly book stopped and started a few times, leading to the last three issues being spread out from February 2009 to October. By the time the film releases, we'll be lucky to have a full 12 issues. Nonetheless, Kick-Ass is primed to, well, kick ass, and this is your jump on point.
Re-named Kick-Ass, Dave sets up a MySpace account through which people can contact him for help. Soon enough, his success inspires a slew of unintended costumed weirdos to emerge, suddenly making Dave's life into a living, breathing comic book. It's strange that the series is still so young, as even seven issues in one gets the feeling that Millar can go a lot further with the concept, making it seem like Kick-Ass is still only in its infancy.
The Cast: There are a good amount of characters within the story, and it seems the film will essentially be lifting the storyline directly from the comics.
Dave Lizewski, whom you already know, is the titular Kick-Ass, an average teenage kid that wants to be something more. Being played by Aaron Johnson in his first real high profile leading role, we'll see if the young actor can pull off the Peter Parker meets Daredevil qualities that Dave has. He can take a beating, fight crime, and still manages to do it as a teen would with the aid of the slut-machine, MySpace.
Katie Deauxma is, more or less, Dave's love interest in the story. The typical oblivious girl to her admirer's advances, she befriends Dave thinking him to be a cream-of-the-crop gay man. Katie is being played by How I Met Your Mother's Lyndsy Fonseca, and should have no problem pulling it off.
Hit-Girl, a fellow costumed vigilante, is a bit more hard edged than Kick-Ass, wielding swords and never refraining from brutally killing her opponents. Also, she's about 12. Played by actual 12 year old Chloe Moretz, the violence and badassery of such a young female character should throw parents into a hissy fit and make the diehard fans happy. Don't worry, even this far from release, the film has been confirmed with an R rating. Hit-Girl also introduces Kick-Ass to the next person on our list...
Big Daddy, a grown up who seems to be Hit-Girl's keeper of sorts, but with more intentions than are initially made clear. Played by Nicolas Cage in the movie, this seems to be where the studio went to add some star power to its otherwise young and unknown cast of actors.
And finally, Red Mist is one of the aforementioned vigilantes inspired by Kick-Ass' antics, and eventually suits up to team with his hero. Kick-Ass and Red Mist are even given a mission together by Big Daddy, but we'll leave that bit of info for the movie to fill you in on. The filmic version of the chatacter is played by Christopher Mintz-Plasse (yes, McLovin), who is, strangely, the film's next biggest marquee name. Can you say hardcore comedic relief?
The Major Plotlines: Well, I mean, there's really only 7 issues, so I'd say each one is pretty damn important. And seriously, it's only 7 issues. Give it a read.
Recommended Reading: Kick-Ass #1-7
