Adam McKay to adapt Irredeemable comics to film
By Ryan Wrenn
Fresh from his Oscar win, Adam McKay has agreed to direct the adaptation for Boom! Studios’ comic Irredeemable.
The rights for the comics were acquired by 20th Century Fox per Deadline, the studio that also prides itself on both the X-Men franchise and this year’s hit Deadpool.
Based on the premise alone, Irredeemable seems set to fall in line with the more morbid tone of Ryan Reynold’s turn as the Merc With a Mouth.
Indeed, Irredeemable reads more like a horror movie than anything else. Earth’s most powerful superhero, the Plutonian, suddenly snaps and begins slaughtering millions of helpless humans, including the citizens of Sky City whom he had sworn to protect.
Other members of the superhero pantheon of which the Plutonian was once a member must join forces to try to stop him using whatever means they have at their disposal, including recruiting the most reprehensible super-villains to their cause.
It is, in sum, not a superhero movie in the Marvel mold. McKay will be working with screenwriter Tommy Wirkola to adapt the comic created and written by Mark Waid, for which he won an Eisner Award in 2012.
McKay’s directorial career began with the Will Ferrell-helmed comedy classics Anchorman, Talladega Nights and Step Brothers, though he has recently branched out into other genres. His 2015 movie The Big Short won him an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.
Boom! Studios owns the largest collection of comic book properties outside of Marvel and DC, and we could see much more from them in the future. Irredeemable represents the seventh property 20th Century Fox acquired from Boom! in the past two years.
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