'Lobo' Movie Puts Director Michael Bay In Its Sights

Michael Bay was always going to get around to directing a superhero movie. It was inevitable. And you know what? Few comic book characters match his specific sensibilities quite like Lobo.

A new report says Bay has met with Warner Bros. about bringing the crass, intergalactic bounty hunter to life on the big screen. And yes, the studio sees this as their possible answer to Deadpool.

The Wrap reports that Bay met with Warner Bros. and DC execs to discuss the project. While he hasn't yet signed on to direct, he did offer some notes on the screenplay. Those notes will be incorporated into a new draft by screenwriter Jason Fuchs (who also wrote last year's Wonder Woman). If Bay likes what he sees, the studio will attempt to close the deal.

Bay is, of course, the bombastic director behind Armageddon, Bad Boys, and the Transformers series, and his vulgar, hyper-masculine style of filmmaking is what Lobo probably deserves. Created in 1983 by Roger Slifer and Keith Giffen, Lobo began as a villain. That changed in the '90s, when the character was re-imagined as a hardcore, hulking, biker-type anti-hero who flies around the galaxy getting into brawls and making dirty money as a bounty hunter and mercenary. This take was originally intended to be a parody of modern comic trends. But comic readers gobbled it up. It stuck. It still sticks.

While Lobo doesn't shatter the fourth wall like the fast-talking Wade Wilson, the Deadpool comparison makes sense. Here is a character who is lewd and crude, a violent manic in a universe populated with tights-wearing do-gooders. If any DC character can lead an R-rated superhero comedy full of bloody battles and dick jokes, it's Lobo.

If They Have to Do This, This is the Way to Do It

Personally, I've never been a big fan of Lobo. At the risk of geek blasphemy, I preferred his New 52 incarnation from a few years ago, where he was portrayed as a slimmed-down, tragic figure. But he has a fanbase and if anyone is going to understand the appeal of the character, it's Bay. After all, this is a director who couldn't make a series of movies based on robot toys without filling them with harsh violence and raunchy sex comedy. Remember the Transformer with the giant balls? I do. Good lord, I do.

This is not a done deal yet. There's always a chance Bay walks away. But his days with the Transformers series seem to be at an end and something needs to pay for that Michael Bay lifestyle. A Lobo movie, made in the style of Deadpool, could keep him in speed boats and mansions for the next decade.

And for Warner Bros. and DC, this could be the movie that showcases the limitless range of their superhero properties. The family-friendly Shazam just started filming. So why not balance that out with a little bit of space biker action?