Pretty soon, Marvel and - to a lesser extent - DC are going to realize that they have a problem: they're going to run out of household name superheroes to turn into big movie franchises. That's when they're going to have to look past the A-list and figure out which of their superheroes are actually worthy of getting their own movie based on story and character alone. We're here to help. Here are The Top Ten Superheroes Who Deserve Their Own Movie, courtesy of the CraveOnline Film Channel.
In the interest of spreading the love around, we're going to look past the heroes who are already rumored to have a movie in the pipeline - folks like The Runaways, The Guardians of the Galaxy, Black Panther, Dr. Strange and so on - and limit our choices to DC and Marvel Comics, since they're the ones who are actually going to experience a shortage in the near future.
10. Ka-Zar - "Tarzan on Skull Island"
That’s pretty much it: Tarzan on Skull Island. Ka-Zar never was one of Marvel’s most original characters. First published as a straight-up “Lord of the Jungle” knock-off by Marvel predecessor Timely Comics in 1936, Ka-Zar was retconned as another, slightly different Tarzan knock-off almost thirty years later in the pages of X-Men. Born Kevin Plunder, he's the son of a rich British family who was raised in The Savage Land – home to dinosaurs and other fantastical creatures – by a sabertooth cat named Zabu. He protects The Savage Land from those who would exploit it, like his villainous brother Parnival Plunder (yes, that’s actually his name). It’s not exactly what you’d call a “high concept,” but when was the last time anyone made a good Tarzan movie? Answer: the f*cking 1930s. Just add dinosaurs.
Dream Director: With Fast Five, Justin Lin took a rather generic action franchise and – after three tries, at any rate – elevated it above the material thanks to canny casting and classy action sequences. If anyone can make Ka-Zar entertaining despite its complete lack of originality, it’s Lin.
9. Livewires - "Philip K. Dick's Mission: Impossible"
Livewires stars an ensemble cast of androids designed to look like human teenagers. Their mission, which they are programmed to accept, is to infiltrate, sabotage and destroy clandestine organizations around the world. But they were programmed too well, and are now rogue agents pursuing even their own country’s black ops programs. Their newest member, Stem Cell (who can create new machines using nanotechnology), has been programmed with human psychology, which gets in the way of their missions but puts a human face on the team. Livewires has a great original storyline – with a doozy of a twist – and a young and exciting cast of characters with unique personalities.
Dream Director: Josh Trank, whose recent low-budget hit Chronicle captured the wonder of superheroics without sacrificing his characters’ moral complexity.
8. Sandman Mystery Theatre - "Batman meets Se7en"
No, not that Sandman. This is Sandman Mystery Theatre, written by Matt Wagner (Mage) and Steven T. Seagle (Uncanny X-Men), based on the original Sandman comics. Wesley Dodds is a young, wealthy entrepreneur in the 1930’s, whose villains are serial killers with a gimmick. Wagner and Seagle used Dodds’ adventures to examine the changing socio-political climate of the 1930’s, focusing on such relevant issues as racial tensions, eugenics and early American apathy to Hitler’s rise prior to World War II. Dodds is not your typical superhero – he feels so much empathy for the murder victims that he loses sleep and is sometimes moved to tears – and has the single healthiest romantic relationship in the history of comics with his love interest, Dian Belmont.
Dream Director: Nicolas Windng Refn, who proved himself a master stylist with last year’s critically acclaimed Drive, a film that hit all the conventional action movie beats while placing refreshing emphasis on the emotional pain caused by acts of violence.
7. Hitman - “Quentin Tarantino with Superpowers”
Tommy Monaghan is just your typical assh*le hitman, with one exception: he has superpowers. Nothing crazy; just x-ray vision and mild telepathy, but that’s enough to give him a niche in the criminal underworld, as a hitman specializing in killing superhumans, like a radioactive Santa Claus. Originally created by Garth Ennis (Preacher) and artist John McCrea, Monaghan is DC’s answer to Deadpool, without the incessant quips.
Dream Director: Patrick Lussier’s Drive Angry was a fantastic, high-octane acid trip through B-movie supernatural action craziness. He’s got a knack for humor, action and good-natured ultra-violence. He’d be perfect.
