Vin Diesel looks set to expand his wings slightly, and go from playing the lead in an action franchise, to playing the lead in a superhero (+ action) franchise, as he’s reportedly in talks to play titular character Bloodshot at Sony, which is to be based on the Valiant Comics character of the same name.
First published in 1992, Bloodshot centres around a mortally wounded soldier with powers of regeneration and meta-morphing made possible through nano-machines in his bloodstream. He was previously a ruthless killer for the mob, but is framed for a murder, betrayed by an FBI agent and has his brain erased. Naturally, he’s pretty pissed and out for revenge on everyone who betrayed him.
The character was created by Kevin Van Hook, Yvel Guichet, Don Perlin, and Bob Layton. Not content with merely playing sidekick Groot in the Guardians Of The Galaxy franchise, Diesel is reportedly looking to lead a superhero franchise on his own, and this looks to be a pretty great fit considering his penchant for vengeful, violent characters.
The film is to be scripted by Eric Heisserer. Bloodshot is expected to be an R-Rated film that draws inspiration from Robocop, The Terminator and Total Recall.
With those influences, two of them having been directed by Paul Verhoeven, you’d think it would be smart to get Verhoeven himself to direct, but Deadpool director Tim Miller‘s Blur Studios partner Dave Wilson is currently attached to direct.
Heisserer has also written the script for Harbringer, which revolves around a teenage runaway with telekinetic powers, with both of these films intended to be a part of a five film plan that will build up to the crossover event, Harbringer Wars. Studios still want a taste of that extended universe, Avengers-level crossover success, because we all saw how easy that was to replicate with Justice League…
Other Valiant characters that may end up in these films include the HARD cops, Livewire, Generation Zero, and Faith.
If you’re not a Valiant Comics fan, it’s understandable to wonder if I’m just making up superheroes at this point, and admittedly it does sound that way. But these are all real characters, and we’ll all likely be very acquainted with them within a few years once Sony churns out an origin film every six months or so.
Back to Diesel, who is still currently attached to star in three more Fast & Furious films, so getting him on board isn’t a done deal yet, so stay tuned. Sony is reportedly looking to make Bloodshot a tentpole release in 2019.
#Peace.Love.Bloodshot
