And we couldn't be more excited about it.
We’ve reached that wonderful, wonderful time in cinema history where studios are finally willing to take risks on unknown properties that could come potential blockbusters. We saw it work for Marvel with Guardians of the Galaxy, as everyone laughed off the idea of a talking tree before the movie came out only to quickly fall in love with Vin Diesel’s Groot, and also with Ant-Man. Now, DC is stepping up to the plate, as they're taking a chance on Jack Kirby’s New Gods — a film that will reportedly be directed by Ava DuVernay.
DuVernay, whose recent blockbuster A Wrinkle in Time just hit theaters to not so great reviews, is closing a deal with Warner Bros to helm the project. Kario Salem (Chasing Mavericks) will write the project.
New Gods is part of something called the “Fourth World Saga” — that being a series of four interconnected comic book series created by Jack Kirby. The series heavily plays on classic mythology as deities are divided up into two planets: a paradise known as New Genesis, and a hellish landscape known as Apokolips. As you would probably expect, a war breaks out between them.
New Gods also features the origin story for the villain known as Darkseid — the ultimate bad-guy that’s one of the greatest threats the Justice League ever faces (he was also teased in the Justice League movie, but who knows if DC has thought far enough ahead in that aspect).
This movie will seemingly stand apart from the rest of the DC worlds that Warner Bros. is working on, more like the Joker stand-alone film, meaning Wonder Woman isn’t going to be showing up to save the day.
This project will also be another film with a budget larger than $100 million for DuVernay, being only the second time in Hollywood history that an African-American woman has received such funding (the first was also DuVernay, for Wrinkle).
DuVernay has teased her excitement online for New Gods, saying she’s excited to bring her favorite superhero, Big Barda, to life. Big Barda is one of the New Gods, wife to Mister Miracle.
Say what you want about Wrinkle in Time, because I didn’t think it was a very good movie either. This is still great news. One bad film doesn’t mean DuVernay should be chastised out of Hollywood, Selma and 13th more than prove she deserves our attention. Giving her New Gods is not only another step in the right direction for our culture, but is exciting to see how this property is going to be brought to life.
Ava DuVernay and Patty Jenkins are also now working for the same superhero/universe, so that’s pretty exciting as well.
What do you think of this news? Are you excited to see a New Gods movie from Ava DuVernay? Let us know in the comments below!
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