Films and shows based on superheroes have ruled the big and small screens for at least a decade. From the colourful upstanding heroism of characters like The Flash and Captain America to the brooding darkness of Arrow to more left of centre programmes such as Legion, superheroes are definitely here to stay. While there have been many great shows and movies produced in the last 10 years I think that Hollywood has only scratched the surface of what they could potentially bring us. Here are 5 comic titles that I would like to see be made into films.
Captain Britain
There is massive potential for this character to join the MCU. It’s possible that a Captain Britain TV show could be the start of Marvel’s equivalent to the Arrowverse, bringing in various different characters from the films and TV shows (possibly leading to the formation of Excalibur?). Captain Britain could also be a way to say something about the current state of the UK if they adapt the Jaspers’ Warp storyline from the comics. Such themes would have to be handled with care but I think if done right a Captain Britain TV series could be a huge hit.
Lionheart
In the comics, Lionheart AKA Kelsey Leigh Kirkland protects Captain America at the cost of her own life causing her spirit to be confronted by Brian Braddock who passes the mantle of Captain Britain to her. A Lionheart show could be a great way to show a female working-class British hero who fights evil and raises her two children. This could be a way of tackling real life contemporary issues in Britain as seen through the lens of a superhero show. The writers would have to be careful not to base the tone and style of Lionheart on shows such as Supergirl or Batwoman but I would certainly enjoy seeing this character in a live-action format.
Marvelman
A Marvelman film could be a good way of deconstructing the tropes that most superhero fare relies on. What could possibly be good is to base this film on Neil Gaiman’s Marvelman run which would show the lives of ordinary people in a world ruled by the titular superhero. A film based on this character probably wouldn’t fit into the MCU framework and would probably be more unorthodox than the typical Marvel blockbuster. I think though that for fans of Watchmen and Legion a Marvelman film could be great.
The Ten Seconders
More of a sci-fi dystopia than a superhero comic, the Ten Seconders tells the story of a world ravaged by ultra-powerful beings, or “Gods”, from beyond Earth, and the intrepid band of humans who are attempting to stop them, nicknamed the Ten Seconders for their life expectancy if they encounter a God. I think this comic is tailor-made for TV and has the potential to be the Walking Dead or the Game of Thrones of the ’20s. I would love to see how they brought the Gods to life as well as how they dealt with the human relationships between the characters.
Fiends of the Eastern Front
I think this would be a fantastic film or mini-series if they ever made it. Fiends of the Eastern Front tells the story of a young German soldier in World War 2 whose Romanian allies change into vampires at dusk. Great care would have to be taken when adapting this to avoid xenophobic or racist connotations but I think a film that showed an ordinary German soldier could be very interesting if it was handled in the right way. This would most likely be a standalone movie not tied to any fictional universe.
What superheroes would you like to see in films or on TV? Do you think the ones I have suggested would be interesting? Please leave a comment below and remember, with great power there must also come great responsibility.
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