Female-Led 'Plastic Man' Movie In The Works At DC

As Warner Bros. continues to take interesting risks and push the envelope with its DC Comics-based movies, the company is now developing a film which puts a very interesting spin on a comics character. A new report says the studio has hired a writer for a Plastic Man movie, but the twist is that the film will feature a female lead.

Will this work? Or is it too much of a – *puts on sunglasses* – stretch? Please, hold your applause for that amazing joke and read on to learn what we know about the project so far.

The Hollywood Reporter's Heat Vision blog says that writer Cat Vasko has been tapped to take the Plastic Man movie in a new direction. For those who may not know, Plastic Man is a comics character with the ability to stretch his limbs to ridiculous lengths. (Think Stretch Armstrong, and you'll be in the basic ballpark.) Here's how the DC Wiki describes him:

Plastic Man is a super-hero whose unique completely malleable body chemistry allows him to stretch to great lengths and contort himself into any position imaginable. Originally a criminal nick-named "Eel" O'Brian, an accident in a chemical factory gave him his ability and he reformed to fight against crime. Woozy Winks is his bumbling best friend and side-kick. Despite being one of the most powerful entities on the planet because of the limitless nature of his powers, he has a care-free and humorous attitude towards life, leading many to not take him seriously.

I can't wait to see who plays Woozy Winks.

Plastic Man has a history of "almosts" when it comes to Hollywood adaptations: a 2008 rumor suggested Keanu Reeves might play the character for the Wachowskis, who wrote a script several years earlier, and in 2018, WB decided it was time to give the project another shot. Amanda Idoko, writer of the upcoming Breaking News in Yuba County, was hired to write the script at that point, but now that Vasko is in the picture, the plan is to "take the project into a new direction entirely" with a female lead. But it may still end up keeping the title Plastic Man instead of changing to Plastic Woman.

As for Vasko herself, she made The Black List back in 2014 for her script Situation Comedy, which followed "a young woman, feeling directionless, [who] stumbles upon a mysterious courtyard where she is transported into a sitcom-like universe, becoming a major character on this 'TV show.'" Last year, Disney+ picked up her script for an untitled fairy tale movie that has Olivia Cooke and LaKeith Stanfield attached to star and upends the traditional vision of a fairy tale.