Kitty Pryde Movie '143' Still In Development, Writer Brian Michael Bendis Offers An Update

It's been almost a full year sine we heard anything new about 143, the X-Men/Kitty Pride movie from writer Brian Michael Bendis and Deadpool director Tim Miller. The project has been kicking around for some time, but other X-Men-related films have moved forward while 143 remained in the shadows. Now, Bendis has provided a mini-update revealing the movie is still happening – but don't expect any more details.

There you have it, from the writer himself: 143, the Kitty Pryde movie that's supposed to be directed by Deadpool filmmaker Tim Miller, is still in the works. As we reported nearly a year ago, 143 is likely a code name, referring to Uncanny X-Men No. 143, one of the first solo Kitty Pryde stories, in which the character goes head-to-head against a demon inside the X-Mansion, AKA Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters.

It's not entirely clear where this project stands. As we all know, the Disney/Fox deal is almost done, which is predicted to shake-up Fox's Marvel properties. As of now, there are two other Fox-related X-Men films on the horizon: the frequently delayed New Mutants and Dark Phoenix. After those two movies, things might change. A lot of the contracts of the current X-Men actors are up after Dark Phoenix, which means that they'll either have to sign new contracts, or we'll be getting a whole new group of actors taking their place.

With this in mind, 143 is in pretty good shape. While Kitty Pryde has appeared on screen before as played by Ellen Page, the character hasn't been present in recent films, and it would be easy to reboot her for a new film. Kitty Pryde is a fan favorite, and at one point, Fox tried to get a solo Kitty Pryde movie starring Page off the ground, reuniting her with the Juno team of Jason Reitman and Diablo Cody. 

Bendis is a talented writer with an impressive resume – he created Mile Morales and Jessica Jones, for instance. His involvement with this project is promising. The only wild card here, at least in my opinion, is Tim Miller. I'm assuming Miller is still involved with the project, and that doesn't inspire much confidence in me, as I don't think Miller is a very good filmmaker – at least based on his work on the first Deadpool. He's currently working on the new Terminator film, and perhaps that will reveal his true potential.