Get your most asinine soap joke ready in the comments, because it seems that Green Arrow will be joined behind bars by a vast and infamous stable of DC villains in David Goyer’s Supermax. Latino Review took a look at the script by Goyer (Batman Begins, X-Men Origins: Magneto) and Justin Marks (that new Street Fighter) and reports that The Joker, Lex Luthor and The Riddler all make sweet cameos inside the script’s titular prison alongside a laundry list of other DC derelicts including: Blockbuster, Shock Trauma, Gemini, Cascade, Tattooed Man, Multiplex, Djinn, Merlyn, Pied Piper, Latarian Milton, Iron Cross & Heatmonger & Backlash (Aryan Nation), Calculator (yes!), Count Vertigo, Floronic Man, Split and Icicle. Okay, so Latarian Milton is not appearing, but give him a year.
Previously, Goyer stated that many of these villains will be revealed by human name only and sans costumes (obviously), which further exemplifies just how Geek City this project is. LR’s consensus is that the Supermax script is both ridiculously cool and highly accessible to the mainstream, comparative to Batman Begins even: “[Warner Bros.] would be on crack not to make this.” Goyer and Marks quickly touch upon the island cast-away/archery origins of Green Arrow né Oliver Queen, yet another billionaire playboy in our world’s comicverse, and by page 7 (approx. 10 years later), we see Queen in costume and encountering the arrow-laden set-up that lands him behind bars. And not just the bars you’d imagine in an old Elmore Leonard paperback…
“Want to know how cool SUPERMAX is? The prison changes shape, cells rearrange, and reconfigures every night to disorient the prisoners from breaking out. A transforming super prison!”
Applying extra heat to the situation, Queen becomes a, uh, marked man inside due to corporate backstabbing (shades of Iron Man). I’ve always thought that Green Arrow was a hard sell to a big summer audience, but some of my doubts are fading and I can’t wait to check this script out. Of course, as we reported last year, Matt Damon was once rumored for Green Arrow, and if the script’s this strong, I’m sure other A-listers will bite as well. Let’s hope it happens.
A thanks to Slashfilm canuck Jonny for the reminder. Moreover, Canada is still Canada.
Discuss: Do you think The Joker will still show up post-Ledger when (a smaller if) Supermax goes into production? For you, where does Supermax rank in terms of upcoming comic book flicks? I dig the title but who else thinks it won’t stick to the marquee?
May 20th, 2008 at 5:24 pm
Justin Marks also co-wrote the script, Hunter.
May 20th, 2008 at 5:31 pm
Justin Marks:
Hack/Slash
Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li
And he’s teamed up with Goyer? It’s gonna blow x100.
May 20th, 2008 at 5:36 pm
I want this movie to happen sooo much! It sounds freaking magnificent!
SEAN BEAN!
SEAN BEAN!
SEAN BEAN!
No to Damon. He is Bourne.
May 20th, 2008 at 5:37 pm
I’m not a DC fan so this whole thing just goes over my head… >_
May 20th, 2008 at 5:41 pm
Wait…what the hell is this movie about though? Just a prison romp?
May 20th, 2008 at 5:57 pm
honestly, it sound like a fun comic book movie that strays away from the typical ‘origin’ story. I say go for it, WB
May 20th, 2008 at 5:57 pm
what’s supermax? never heard of it.
May 20th, 2008 at 6:06 pm
UMM, I dont understand. Was this prison in the DC Comics? Why would they be making a cameo? Isn’t the Joker in Arkam?
May 20th, 2008 at 6:08 pm
sounds good, DC needs to
play catch-up to MARVEL in
terms of hero movies, I
would have liked to have
seen a(n) GREEN LANTERN
movie than SUPERMAN RETURNS!!!
but this looks like a step
forward for DC , I hope
we see a GL movie down the
road….
May 20th, 2008 at 6:46 pm
It sounds like an AMAZING idea to me, especially if they get Justin Hartley (plays GA on Smallville) to do it. They could have him escaping prison with flashbacks detailing how he became a vigilante.
May 20th, 2008 at 7:02 pm
No to Smallville Green Arrow, Smallville sucks.
May 20th, 2008 at 7:08 pm
This seriously sounds like the worst project ever. Why not make a green arrow movie called Green Arrow and not set in a prison. Ugh, Goyer frustrates me. Batman Begins would have been a disaster if not for Nolan’s rewrite.
May 20th, 2008 at 7:30 pm
“The prison changes shape, cells rearrange, and reconfigures every night to disorient the prisoners from breaking out. A transforming super prison!â€
Damn this film sounds bad ass. It also sounds like ” The Cube” and “Hyper-Cube”.. 2 great films …from Canada.
May 20th, 2008 at 7:30 pm
I like the concept a lot, but I really, really am not a fan of Goyer.
Has anybody seen Zig Zag? Blade III? That invisible movie?
I chalk up all the cringe worthy dialog in Batman Begins to this guy. He’s a disaster, in my opinion. Sorry to say.
May 20th, 2008 at 7:51 pm
Tendrillar,
The reason why BB turned out as well as is it did, was due to Nolan looking over what he was writing. And as for Blade 3, that was all Goyer. That guy shouldn’t be allowed to do anything on his own.
May 20th, 2008 at 8:01 pm
I for one would like to read more about this project….this is the first I’ve even heard of it but the concept sounds cool.
May 20th, 2008 at 8:20 pm
I think the title is going to be called “Green Arrow: Super-Max” or something like that.
May 20th, 2008 at 8:49 pm
I think this sounds sweet, the Green Arrow is under-appreciated and has a more “realistic” story than others like Superman or even Batman for that matter (237 types of martial arts? Get real Bruce…). I hope they include the Joker even if Ledger can’t do it. I mean the Joker started as a Comic character and has been played by various talented people over the years, from Caesar Romero to Jack Nicholson. Not including the Joker because one of the various people who played him can’t do it just doesn’t make sense to me. Eventually the Joker will show up on another film being played by yet another actor, might as well get it out of the way.
May 20th, 2008 at 9:04 pm
@ Mecline
Good points all. Regarding the Joker, I agree that he should show up in Supermax as well.
May 20th, 2008 at 9:59 pm
Man sounds awesome i just wished Nolan was directing cause i think a cameo by the Riddler would be a good crossover to a 3rd batman sequel. Because if they can find someone in Heath Ledgers caliber portraying the joker to play the Riddler, and write a script with smart riddles,puzzles, and traps the Riddler would be a perfect ending for a trilogy for batman in my opinion. Also i think having the riddler as the villian for a 3rd movie allows for an ending that is open ended but closed. What I mean is like batman could defeat the riddler but he can leave one last riddle or trap before he dies allowing for more batman movies or audiences can infer what happens (which is batman overcomes and goes about his daily batman routine)
May 20th, 2008 at 10:00 pm
@Davezilla
I’m with you. While I won’t be a making a big fuss if it’s called Supermax, I do think they should include something to identify it as a Green Arrow movie, hell even a sub-title would do for me. Otherwise I can bet on at least 10 people attending the movie thinking its the film adaptation of Prison Break.
@Hunter
Totally, I’m psyched to see the Riddler also. Carey probably wasn’t the best choice in Forever,but the character oozes so much style that he deserves another mention in the DC Film Universe.
May 21st, 2008 at 5:05 am
focus on villains like, penguin, king tut, riddler, ones we havent seen recently. dont touch the joker, but speak of him.
May 21st, 2008 at 6:56 am
The Joker in Supermax is ridiculous. I could care less
that another actor would portray him. The problem I
have is what was mentioned above, the Joker doesn’t
ever get sent to a prison, he resides at Arkham Asylum
upon capture. And why the hell are they doing a Green
Arrow movie? I would rather see a Superman reboot or
movies for Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Flash, or even
fucking Aquaman before this. Yes, I’d rather see a movie
about DC’s underwater Dr Doolittle than a guy who
shoots arrows.
May 21st, 2008 at 9:31 am
This sounds great!
Don’t eff with the costume, please. The Batman and X-Men suits all SUCKED.
Hopefully this is about Oliver Queen as GA.
Hopefully we see a Flash (Barry Allen, the first and the best Flash as we know him, PLUS he was never Kid Flash, the Flash’s teen/kid sidekick) and Green Lantern (Hal Jordan, also the first and the best GL as we know him, AND the same age and best friends as/with Oliver Queen and Barry Allen) film REALLY SOON.
May 21st, 2008 at 9:33 am
And I’d love to see the Joker and Luthor…..who knows? Maybe they’ll be better than Ledger and Spacey.
May 21st, 2008 at 9:50 am
this is the first ive heard of this. sounds like a fun movie. the title needs work though. supermax brings thoughts of female hygiene products, or department stores to mind
May 21st, 2008 at 10:14 am
LOL I don’t recognize a single one of those villians! I need to get-a-readin’.
May 21st, 2008 at 10:38 am
sweet!
yes to LL, yes to the Riddler, but im sorry, a no to joker. not just yet. i mean, he has only just appeared in tdk. i wouldnt mind seeing clayface or hush though (now that would be a good fight: GA vs hush.) besides, joker would be put in Arkham anyway.
the prison break idea is, quite frankly, a stroke of genius. an origin story would probably be the near enough the same as Batman Begins. this is a great idea by a great writer.
bring me a green lantern and a lightning bolt.
May 21st, 2008 at 11:25 am
Movie sounds awesome, a reconfiguring prison, take note future political officials, anyway its about time Green Arrow got his own movie, and they gave it a different name instead of just Green Arrow, But if Joker, Luthor, and Riddler are all going to make cameos wouldn’t that mean that Batman and Superman exist in the world Green Arrow lives in, therefore they would have to make a JLA movie? Is it just Green Arrow as the only hero in the movie? or will they Introduce another DC hero into the world of film? I say they should put Black Canary in there, but not make them fall in love at first sight, they should hate eachother, and over time begin to appreciate each other’s presence.
May 21st, 2008 at 11:57 am
this movie has development hell written all over it. no, i take that back, this is *totally* getting made…
May 21st, 2008 at 7:15 pm
@Kenton
I agree on the black canary front, even a cameo would do it for me.
@Danny
I gotta disagree just because its not a prominent role, its a basic cameo. Which means in the end we are going to see him most likely in a 10 second clip. I think it’d be a perfect way to better tie in the fact that all these different movies are from the same universe, because some of the average movie goers probably won’t realize it a first. Plus because of the fact that TDK will be a year behind by the time this gets out at least, people are going to remember the Joker and see the connection. If this Supermax is the equivalent to Arkham Asylum, the gotta have Mr.J :P
June 19th, 2008 at 6:19 am
yea…. Blade 3 was total garbage…. Goyer shouldnt be left alone at all …. actually, why the hell is he even in business? just from Blade 3 he provides evidence that he iz teh Phail.
June 19th, 2008 at 7:46 am
“he iz teh Phail”
i have to admit that i chuckled at this.