I’m pretty much sure at this point that I don’t have any interest in seeing Quentin Tarantino ever tackle a franchise picture, much less one from a known comic-book. Thankfully, Tarantino expressed a similar opinion when talking to MTV about an invitation from Warner Brothers to direct Green Lantern.
“I was offered the ‘Green Lantern… Not since it’s been a script, but just like, ‘Hey we own the Green Lantern. Would you like it?'”
There’s no doubt Tarantino has been offered huge films and franchises by the studios before, but what is of interest is his thoughts on the idea of making a superhero film in general.
“It wouldn’t be an existing comic book character… I’m a writer. I’d want to use my imagination and not have to fight with geeks’ memories of how this character should be and, ‘Oh, I cast an actor as opposed to a bodybuilder’ or it’s not as good as the way Neal Adams drew him.’ If I were to do something like that, I would want the fun of coming up with the superhero myself.”
Which is the most exciting answer to hear. No one with a brain has ever slighted Tarantino’s creativity, but it’s a comfort to know that a fat incongruous entry on his filmography won’t be taken up by a property sequel or a franchise film. Keep that shit in the fanboy dreams.
What form would an entirely original Tarantino superhero film take though? You can count on the obvious shit like genre mixing, and uniquely graphic violence, but what approach would most interest him? Would it be a take on a supernaturally powered, gimmicky hero like the men either Spider or Super? What kind of crazy shit could he do with a brooding vigilante type like Batman or The Punisher? What bizarre amalgamation of tropes would be found in the hero Tarantino would find worthy of a story?
Of course, this is all masturbation about shit that ain’t ever going to happen. If you move beyond fanboy interest in having a legitimate pantheon filmmaker endorse and validate their existing obsessions though, there’s something genuinely appealing in finding out what Tarantino would have to say in the genre.