Grant Morrison has been unfairly overlooked when it comes to live-action adaptations. In an era where pretty much every major comic book writer has had a lavishly budgeted big screen realization of their work, he’s been left behind. That’s particularly frustrating given that for almost three decades he was putting out some of the most exciting and interesting superhero comics around.
Where’s my Final Crisis adaptation, or Batman RIP, or Animal Man? Admittedly, the excellent Doom Patrol on DC Universe went a long way towards scratching that itch, but now it seems that Warner Bros. are considering adapting one of his greatest stories: All-Star Superman, with Jon Hamm donning the cape.
Written by Morrison and with art by Frank Quitely, the miniseries follows a Superman who’s received a lethal overdose of solar radiation, resulting in his cells beginning to overload. That sounds pretty doom and gloom, but the result is a joyous ’12 Labors of Superman’ in which he tries to leave his world in the best state he can before the end. It’s a near-perfect take on the character and fans often name it as one of the greatest ever Superman comics.
Word is that with the wild success of Joker contrasted with the still-stinging failure of Justice League, Warner Bros. are much more open to one-shot movies with an idiosyncratic take on classic characters than they have been before. Hence why they’re thinking of doing this project along with a Batman Beyond film.
Now, All-Star Superman has actually been adapted before as a DC animated movie in 2011, but it was a rather disappointing recreation, with the animated style not doing justice to the original look. Of course, translating the events to live-action would also alter the mood, but I’d hope that any director looking at the style would conclude that a more fantastical retro sci-fi vibe would suit the story far more than dowdy realism.
And while suggesting Jon Hamm borders on cliche in terms of fan-casting, he’d play an excellent experienced Superman at the height of his powers and confidence. That being said, our sources – the same ones who told us Black Mask will be portrayed as gay in Birds of Prey, that Robert Pattinson was chosen over Nicholas Hoult for Batman and that Viola Davis would return for The Suicide Squad, all of which were correct – have stressed that Hamm is just one name on WB’s list and is far from a lock for the part.
Likewise for this project as a whole. While it’s something the studio would indeed like to pursue, there’s no guarantee at this early, early stage that it’ll actually make it past the development process.
Tell us, though, if you had your choice, who would you pick to lead an All-Star Superman movie? Let us know down below.