In 1989 ex-Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Jim Shooter launched Valiant Comics after an unsuccessful attempt to buy Marvel. Since then the publisher has been through many incarnations before being re-launched as Valiant Entertainment by Dinesh Shamdasani and Jason Kothari in 2012 as a way to create a new expanded universe of characters ready to be optioned for films. In 2015, Valiant landed a five-picture deal with Sony to bring transform their characters into a cinematic universe a la the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The publisher has struggled to leverage any of their properties, but that looks to be changing with the announcement (per Deadline) that Vin Diesel will be starring in an ’80s/’90s action-style feature film adaptation of the Valiant series Bloodshot for Sony.
Image: Nerdist
The newly announced movie will be helmed by Dave Wilson, a long time collaborator of Deadpool‘s Tim Miller. It’ll be his first feature film, and will apparently be heavily influenced by cult classic action movies like Robocop, Terminator, and Total Recall. Someone at Sony is clearly a big Verhoeven fan! This hints that Bloodshot will likely be R-rated, which makes sense as Sony attempts to move away from its family friendly Spider-Man films with the upcoming horror-tinged Venom movie. It also gives the studio a chance to establish a new franchise based around Valiant’s Expanded Universe now that their Spider-Man rights are split with Marvel.
Image: Valiant
Bloodshot was created during the comic book boom of the ’90s by Kevin VanHook, Don Perlin, and Bob Layton. He’s a former soldier with regenerative powers due to a billion nanocomputers called “nanites” in his blood (really), which give him the power to shapeshift, heal, and “interface with technology.” There isn’t really one definitive Bloodshot run, so we wouldn’t be surprised to see an original story based around a classic self-discovery/hunt for vengeance archetype, a la Oldboy or Jason Bourne.
via Giphy
We’ll keep our eyes out for more Bloodshot updates. But the real question is: are you excited to see the cult ’90s character come to life on the big screen? Happy to see Vin Diesel as another superhero after Guardians of the Galaxy? Let us know in the comments below.
Featured Image: Valiant
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