Green Arrow Goes to Big House Before Big Screen
Wizard is reporting that though screenwriter David Goyer (Blade, The Invisible) couldn’t catch the Flash, he’s now 
setting his sights on Green Arrow - although the result is not what you might expect.
The project is called Super Max, and has Green Arrow wrongly accused and convicted of a crime, and then behind bars as regular ol’ Ollie Queen - stuck in a maximum security joint with many of the same supervillains who first put behind bars.
Personally, I’m going to file this premise under the “I’ll Believe It When I See It” category. It sounds like Suicide Squad meets Prison Break - which isn’t suprising. I’ve noted in other blogs before that the wealth of supervillainy in both Marvel and DC is an untapped resource for big screen film producers.
I’m not certain I like the Green Arrow angle. Green Arrow has appeared on life-action TV before - played by Justin Hartley in Smallville. But while Hartley is a decent Arrow, he’s just not Oliver Queen. Ollie is a man who won’t shut up about anything and won’t back down about anything either. He’s one of the most intriguing and dynamic voices never heard (except maybe Justice League Unlimited) on film.
Goyer has confirmed this won’t be a dimmed-down vision, and though G.A.’s costume is on for only the first ten minutes, Queen will have to contend with “a lot of characters with powers” as well as “out-of-control heroes”.
Who could we see, and who should we see? Maybe Nite-Wing or Lock-Up for the (anti)-heroes? And the villains? Well, I’d love to see Captain Cold or Deathstroke behind bars.
What, or rather who, do you guys think?
April 10th, 2007 at 6:43 pm
[...] unknown wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptI’ve noted in other blogs before that the wealth of supervillainy in both Marvel and DC is an untapped resource for big screen film producers. I’m not certain I like the Green Arrow angle. Green Arrow has appeared on life-action TV … [...]
April 10th, 2007 at 6:54 pm
This….. is not going to happen. Just like Superman Vs Batman is not going to happen….
Then again… I said that about Alien Vs Predator and Jason Vs Freddy. I also said the Donner cut of Superman II would never see the light of day. This was probably the same conversation in which I said that Highlander II ‘completely killed the franchise.’
Why waste a good character like Ollie this way? Comic-book-based films have always had to be white washed and repainted to be more palatable to the great unwashed *cough*Smallville*cough. This is a stupid idea.
It’s like saying “Let’s do Die Hard, only let’s replace a hero cop with Luke Cage.” Or, “Aquaman gets stuck on a cruise ship that will explode if it slows below 3 knots.”
The Question as a top secret British spy. Nick Fury goes undercover as a kindergarten teacher and wacky hijinks commence. Thor disguises himself as a woman to protect a female softball team from a crazed alien computer from the future.
Dilluting a superhero movie with another Hollywood pre-packaged genre…
Hmmm, this is easy. In fact, if this actually gets done and makes a buck, I’m moving to Hollywood.
April 10th, 2007 at 7:15 pm
Yeah Cap,
I said “Hellboy” would never happen and look what happened there.
I think there’s potential here - Goyer HAS done good things before, and he’s not a comic book ignoramus. But like any writer, he’s got his up’s and down’s, and I’m not counting this one as a downer just yet.
Though I’d pay money to see Thor disguise himself as a female softball player to stop Ultron’s little-league team from world domination.
April 10th, 2007 at 8:59 pm
I wouldn’t mind seeing a good Captain America Flick (Good, mind you not what is out there) or live action Iron Man. I’m not sure this premise is strong enough for me to want to see it. I like Grenn Arrow, I just don’t know if I like him that much. Green Lantern on the other hand….
April 10th, 2007 at 11:40 pm
Your wishes might not be that far off.
Green Arrow’s best buddy IS Green Lantern, and their Hard Travelling Heroes story, although somewhat dated (raising social issues which plagued the 70’s), is certainly a worthy starting point.
The problem is that there are so many Green Lanterns - Alan Scott, Hal Jordan, Kyle Rayner - that WHO is really big question. There’s also problems raised by Alan Scott’s taking - and dropping - of the name Sentinel, Kyle’s taking of the name Ion, and Hal Jordan becoming possessed by Parralax and wiping out the Corps, before helping bring them back.
Green Lantern, as you can see, has a very confusing history at times.