Your next DC hero?
It is no secret that Warner Brothers and Legendary Pictures are pleased as punch with director Guillermo Del Toro and his film Pacific Rim. The overall impression from the few test screenings that have already occurred has been very positive. The studio is high on the film and have already commissioned a script for a sequel. They are also all about continuing to be in the Guillermo Del Toro business. The companies have already locked GDT down for another project, Crimson Peak, which is already scheduled to shoot early next year (circa February, tentatively) after he finishes up his Pacific Rim duties and gets the ball rolling on his TV show (The Strain) for FX. Looking even further into the future, WB already has him working on doing the oft-mentioned supernatural superhero team-up Dark Universe (aka Justice League Dark) for them and Legendary Pictures has expressed interest in producing his Gothic western Dumas adaptation Montecristo on down the line (and maybe even At the Mountains of Madness). For the moment, things are truly looking up for Guillermo again.
Another bromance to come out of the Pacific Rim production is that of GDT and star Charlie Hunnam. Del Toro has already cast him in a leading role in Crimson Peak as well and it isn’t too hard to picture him transferring Charlie over again to Dark Universe. After all, he’s a young blonde Brit whom is experienced at playing antiheroes and has a good relationship with the director. He has John Constantine written all over him and I’d be shocked if the thought wasn’t already on Guillermo’s mind.
It seems that Del Toro isn’t the only one with a new-found infatuation for the Sons of Anarchy actor, however. Warner Brothers may have their eyes on Hunnam as well. According to a trusted industry source of mine, the current rumor on the block is that Charlie Hunnam’s likeness is being used for conceptual art on a particular big WB project right now. The film? Justice League. It seems that in the current pieces being drawn up, Charlie is The Flash. Now before we get carried away, let’s take a step back and think about the possibilities here…
#1 – WB is already in discussions with the actor.
- While possible, I find it highly unlikely that they would already be attempting to cast one of the “lesser” hero roles in their inevitable super friend flick before they have worked out what the hell they are doing with Batman yet. Honestly, it really depends on when the hell they want this film to hit theaters. 2016? 2017?
#2 – WB is high on the actor right now and are having the artists use his likeness to help sell him on this idea.
- This one is a good bit likelier, especially if they want to make JL sooner rather than later.
#3 – An artist (or artists) on the conceptual team is a fan and simply using Charlie’s likeness in their work.
- This seems likeliest to me, though the idea could also be coming from a producer or someone else involved.
So what do we take away from this? Firstly, that WB is more than pleased with their July monster vs. robot actioner and that enthusiasm is pushing them to take elements they love within it and move them on to other properties. Second? That they might want to get into the Charlie Hunnam business, especially since the upcoming season of Sons of Anarchy that hits this fall will reportedly be the next to last one. With Hunnam’s schedule conceivably wide open come late 2014, it’s not hard to imagine at least someone trying to hoist him into Hollywood full-time.
Will we see Charlie chain-smoking and chatting it up with Swamp Thing and Etrigan the Demon in Del Toro’s Dark Universe? Or will we see him zipping about in red alongside Wonder Woman and Martian Manhunter? It is simply far too early to tell. Any number of things could happen between now and then…from Pacific Rim and/or Man of Steel underperforming to Hunnam taking up residence elsewhere? Only time will tell. That said, it’s nice to get a picture every once in awhile of where exactly Warner Brothers and DC’s collective heads are at when it comes to bringing characters other than Batman and Superman to the silver screen.
Personally I’d prefer Hunnam hellblazing it up in GDT’s proposed comic adaptation, but what say the Chewers? Chime in with your thoughts on the forums and in the comments section below.