The screenwriter for Deadman, based on the very strange DC Comics undead superhero, has been announced – it’s newbie Gary Dauberman. He caught the attention of producers Don Murphy and Guillermo del Toro with a spec script he had done for a zombie Western, and now he’s chronicling the origin of Boston Brand, a murdered circus acrobat who comes back from the dead to solve crimes and who can possess bodies.
It’s a pretty wacky coincidence that this was just announced – I was out with Guillermo del Toro last week when he met Arnold Drake, the guy who created Deadman. Guillermo was so geeked out about it that he grabbed his infamous notebook and have Drake sign it for him. Drake had brought along a copy of Deadman’s first story in Strange Adventures #205, which GdT couldn’t get enough of.
Drake shared lots of terrific stories ranging from his service in WWII to the origins of Deadman to how he came to create the first graphic novel, It Rhymes With Lust, which Dark Horse will be reprinting soon. Guillermo had a lot of fantastic ideas about the movie and the character, and he’s really dedicated to keeping Deadman looking as creepy as possible.
Deadman’s a possible directing gig for del Toro – he’s very interested, but it’s all about the scheduling. I think he’s a perfect fit for the bizarre, unique and macabre world of a living dead superhero. Especially since he was namedropping Kelley Jones’s version of the character all night!