Marvel’s Avengers – Age of Ultron is firing all cylinders having already amassed a whopping sum of $1.2 billion world-wide and yet has no plans to stop any time soon. Witnessing this era where live-action comic adaptations are spelling block-busters for the production houses, it is no surprise movie-makers are rushing on to cash on reboots, sequels and introducing newer comic heroes on to the silver screen. Warner Bros. along with DC Comics is stirring up its own kitty of superheroes by re-introducing its cash cow and fan favorite Batman in the upcoming Man of Steel sequel, Batman v Superman – Dawn of Justice which evidently will lead to DC’s bandwagon of superhero team-up, The Justice League hitting theatres in 2017.
Adding fuel to this classic – heated rivalry between Marvel Comics and DC Comics, both publication houses have rolled out a powerful roster of superheroes lined up for their respective cinematic universes over the next five years. While fans and movie buffs may have a hard time surfing through these superhero tides from these two comic giants, there’s a slight ripple coming from another American comic publisher, Valiant Comics.
Although today, Valiant Comics may not have found its footing among the masses but back in the 1990’s, Valiant was a successful competing force to Marvel and DC, offering a brand new comic universe to comic junkies. Founded in 1989 by former Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Jim Shooter and former Marvel Comics writer/editor Bob Layton, the comic has roped in some of the greatest writing talents including Barry Windsor-Smith, David Lapham, Joe Quesada, Jimmy Palmiotti, and Sean Chen.
Sold off to the Game developer, Acclaim Entertainment in 1994 for $65 million by its venture-capital investor, Triumph, the comic flourished during the 1990s and also adapted its characters into video games spinning successful gaming franchises. However in 2004, Acclaim had to shut shop due to bankruptcy killing the spurt of growth the comics had achieved. The comics lingered on since then under the entrepreneurship of Dinesh Shamdasani and Jason Kothari and it was only until 2012 that Valiant Entertainment gained back its recognition winning the Publisher of the Year under 5 per cent Market Share and being nominated for Book of the Year at the Diamond Gem Awards.
With 25 years of existence and selling out over 81 millions of copies of over 2000 characters world-wide, Valiant Comics is geared up to spice up the comic cinematic space that has been dominated by Marvel and DC for decades. Here are 5 reasons why Valiant Comics could catch up with Marvel and DC on the big screen.
Breaking the monotony of sequels and reboots – Jog back 75 years when in 1941, Republic Pictures adapted Marvel’s comic first superhero Captain Marvel in Adventures of Captain Marvel. DC‘s own initial outing closely followed by Batman released under the Columbia Pictures banner. Ever since then both Marvel and DC have been concocting different formulae in rolling out similar characters on-screen. Although today with a kitty of 11 block-busters following 2008’s Iron Man, Marvel could rightfully be rejoicing with successful sequels and reboots (Chris Evan’s incarnation of Captain America), DC’s rough patch in introducing newer characters on the big screen especially after the Green Lantern and Cat Woman fiasco saddened us. Treading with care, DC has gone back to its money spinner rolling out Batman and Superman reboots. While seeing the Caped Crusader on screen once again does excite most of us, it dissolves the factor of novelty.
Amidst all the euphoria of sequels and reboots, Valiant Comics could squeeze in with an unexpected product, something like Joss Whedon’s Avengers did to us in 2012 or even Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy in 2014. Breaking the monotony of expected superheroes in different incarnations, Valiant’s comics could light up the Box Office with a power-packed story-line giving fans and movie goers an alternate comic universe to feed on.
Valiant comics’ deal with Sony Entertainment – Speaking of making their live-action debut, this April, Valiant Comics and Sony Entertainment have announced a Five-Picture deal to bring in Valiant classic characters including Bloodshot and Harbinger to the big screen that will culminate in the shared universe crossover film, Harbinger Wars. With Spiderman slipping away from Sony’s grasp and falling into the comic universe of Marvel Studios, the American production house seems all game for a new genre of superheroes from Valiant Comics. In March, Valiant announced that it partnered with a Beijing-based entertainment company DMG for nine-figures of film financing capital for the production of theatrical films and television programs based on Valiant’s library of iconic superhero characters.
Planned for a 2017 theatrical release, Bloodshot will kick off the five-picture plan leading to Harbinger Wars and will be directed by David Leitch & Chad Stahelski (John Wick) from a script by Jeff Wadlow (Kick Ass 2) and Eric Heisserer (Story of Your Life). Neal H Moritz and Toby Jaffe from Original Film (The Fast and the Furious franchise) and Dinesh Shamdasanifrom Valiant Entertainment will produce the film. Matthew Vaughn and Jason Kothari will serve as executive producers.Harbinger will follow shortly thereafter from a script again by Eric.
“Valiant is one of the most successful publishers in the history of comics, and Neal is one of the best action producers in the business today. This is a formidable partnership that will bring two incredibly commercial franchises with global appeal together on the big screen,” said Sony Entertainment Motion Picture Group President Doug Belgrad.
Never before seen characters – Penned by some of the greatest ex-writers of Marvel, Valiant Comics has given birth to an extraordinary generation of superheroes with never before witnessed powers and character-driven stories. Some of their classic superheroes including Bloodshot, Harbinger, X-O Manowar, Archer and Armstrong, Rai, Solar and Ninjak had made an incredible mark in their niche space. Commenting on the debut big screen venture Neal H Moritz added that “Bloodshot and Harbinger are two of the great untapped franchises anywhere in comics. In partnership with Sony and Valiant, we look forward to building the next great generation of superhero films.”
Appearing in 188 issues, Bloodshot was created in 1992 by Kevin VanHook, Don Perlin and Bob Layton. The Comic hero is a former soldier is equipped with enhanced strength, speed and endurance coupled with powers of regeneration and meta-morphing made possible through nanites injected into his blood. After escaping from his masters at Project Rising Spirit, Bloodshot seeks to discover his true identity. Blood shot has sold over 7 million copies in multiple languages around the globe.
Speaking of the next candidate Peter Stanchek from Valiant’s successful Harbinger comics was created by Jim Shooter and artist David Lapham in 1992. As per comics Peter is an Omega level Harbinger with psionic abilities and leads the Harbinger Resistance. Harbinger would also introduce another vital character Toyo Harada who is a philanthropist and CEO of a secret Harbinger Foundation along with being the most powerful telekinetic in the world, very much on the lines of Charles Xavier meeting LexLuthor.
With no official announcement of introducing other titular characters, one could only hope to see other interesting characters like Valiant’s longest running character X-O Manowar who after being abducted by aliens in 5th century Europe Aric of Dacia took control of one of their greatest weapons, the X-O Manowar armor. Other characters with amazing story lines include the immortal Eternal Warrior, the intelligence operative Ninjak, the android spirit guardian of Japan, Rai and the teletechnopath Livewire with the ability to control machines with her mind.
Amazing story arcs – We all have known and seen explicitly how Batman’s lost his parents and his vengeance against crime led him to be the Caped Crusader in Gotham tearing down criminals with his crime-fighting skills. Superman’s Kryptonian saga has been drilled down well too by Marlon Brando in Christopher Reeve’s Superman (1978) and again by Russell Crowe in Man of Steel (2013). Marvel’s Spiderman reboots too have shown us Uncle Ben die more than once. Amongst all these revisits to fan favorite comics, Valiant’s introduction to an all-new comic era could be a refreshing comic geeky delight. Established by some of the best talents in the industry, the story arcs of Valiant comics have a grounded character driven approach. From brooding and serious storylines of Bloodshot and Harbinger to light-hearted tone of Archer and Armstrong, Valiant has the right mix of variety and diversity in its kitty. Another advantage that Valiant brings in is the lack of the convoluted story lines including parallel dimensions, alternate worlds and all those space-time travel mess. This makes Valiant comics an easy comic to dive in.
Valiant’s Unity – What’s triggered the wheel of comic-era in Hollywood is undoubtedly the stupendous success of the Marvel’s superhero team mash-up in Avengers (2012) grossing over $1.5 billion. Taking its cue, DC changed tracks to a Justice League tent-pole. Even in the small-screen outings, CW’s Legends of Tomorrow speaks of a superhero team from DC’s comics which has driven fans crazy and eagerly wait at the edge of their seats. Crossovers and superhero team-ups seem to be the right formula for smashing box office records.
Valiant’s debut move in the big screen space talks just about that. The five feature film deal culminates into a massive crossover tent-pole Harbinger Wars where both Bloodshot and Harbinger confront each other head on. The motion picture will directly be inspired by Valiant’s critically acclaimed 2013 comic book crossover of the same name. Andrea Giannetti will oversee the five-picture Harbinger Wars initiative for Sony Pictures.
Apart from the cross-over Harbinger Wars, Valiant has their very own Avengers/Justice League ready and ripe to settle in – Valiant’s Unity. Unity is a superhero team brought together by Toyo Harada to take down X-O Manowar. The team eventually rebelled against Harada and now protects the world with help from MI6 and G.A.T.E. With appearance in over 64 issues, Unity could be the trump-card for Valiant unsettling DC’s Justice League and Marvel’s Avengers.
Celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, Valiant Comics has lined up a host of surprises and special edition issues kick-staring this May. Having achieved the perfect platform, the 25th year could mark much more for Valiant Entertainment with their venture into the cinematic space. With the industry aggressively dominated by Marvel’s Earth’s mightiest Heroes on the one side and DC’s upcoming Justice League on another, Valiant with the right blend of strong characters and intriguing and engrossing storylines may potentially run the race as the dark horse bringing in some out-of-the-world superhero bonanza to the theatres.
