The name Rob Liefeld isn’t a household one if you’re not a comics buff, but he’s about to become a lot more well known. A little over a year ago it was reported that writer/artist Liefeld’s Extreme Universe comic series would be turned into a feature film franchise.
This wasn’t particularly surprising news considering that a year prior, his creation Deadpool blew up the box office with massive numbers and changed the dynamic of comic book movies. This led to a deal for Liefeld’s creations, totalling nine comic book titles and over 100 characters, and we now know that the major player in producing and distributing these films will be – you guessed it – Netflix.
Deadline reports that a previous deal where Liefeld would have sold the rights to Fundamental Films didn’t work out, and the streaming giant swooped in with a seven figure deal for six comic book titles: Brigade, Bloodstrike, Cybrid, Re-Gex, Bloodwulf, and Kaboom, along with around 50 characters.
Liefeld’s work doesn’t consist of major superhero names right now, but there’s a good chance they soon will be. Superheroes are as popular as ever and with Netflix now behind the production and marketing, it’s pretty likely kids will be dressing up as ShadowHawk and Supreme on Halloween in a few years.
Reportedly, writer Akiva Goldsman, who was a part of the original deal, is still involved and will set up a writers room for a shared cinematic universe. One that will likely be R-Rated.
Scott Stuber, Netflix’s head of feature films, had this to say: “Rob’s Extreme Universe features gritty stories and distinctive characters. Akiva’s creative voice has been behind some of the largest movie franchises, making him uniquely capable of helping bring these superheroes from the Extreme Universe to life for Netflix”.
Netflix haven’t quite got their feet under them when it comes to their film department just yet, with their latest big budget releases proving to be pretty disastrous from a critical standpoint. However, the streaming giant doesn’t seem to worry too much about how their films are received, just how much they are watched, as proven by a Bright sequel being greenlit.
Thus, it’s a smart move for Netflix to jump on board the superhero train, which hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down. Whether the adaptations of Liefeld’s creations will prove to be any good is still up in the air, but it’s very likely that plenty of new subscribers will be enthralled by the idea of more superhero movies. The rich get richer.
#Peace.Love.ExtremeUniverse
