Andy Serkis Is Making A Comic Inspired By Greek Mythology
Andy Serkis doesn't just want to make comic book movies. He wants to make actual comic books, and so he shall.
This weekend, "Venom: Let There Be Carnage" will bring the comic book antihero, Eddie Brock, AKA Venom, back to movie theaters, along with his fellow Spider-Man supervillain, Cletus Kasady, AKA Carnage. Tom Hardy reprises his role as Brock, and Woody Harrelson is back with different hair as Kasady after appearing in a mid-credits scene in the first "Venom" movie. Serkis, who portrayed Ulysses Klaue in "Black Panther" and is the greatest mo-cap actor who ever lived, has taken over the directorial reins from Ruben Fleischer.
That's not the only piece of comic-book-related Serkis news, however. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Serkis is set to co-create a new series for Scout Comics, with financing from Thunder Comics, a new label founded earlier this year, "which seeks to team up talent from film and TV with comic book creators."
Serkis will be teaming up with screenwriter and director Andrew Levitas for "Eternus," a seven-issue series inspired by Greek myth. The series is said to take place in 360 AD, "30 years after the murder of Zeus in his own temples." Zeus' son, Heracles, better known by his Roman name, Hercules, "is now a depressed drunk, while the old gods struggle to stay alive after decades of Christian disruption."
The Eternus Creative Team
Heracles/Hercules has been the subject of countless films, everything from Disney animated features to live-action Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson movies. Now, you'll be able to read his comic book adventures, with a story co-conceived by Serkis.
Though THR credits Serkis and Levitas as the co-creators of "Eternus," it also notes that Don Handfield and Anastajza K Davis are writing the series. So it seems like this might be one of those things where Serkis has helped come up with the story and will lend his name to the project while handing the actual execution of it off to other creative people.
Karl Moline is providing the pencils for "Eternus," with Andy Owens inking, Dave Lanphear lettering, and Rob Prior painting covers. There's already a limited-edition "Eternus" ashcan, which will be available next week at New York Comic Con.
Here's the rest of the synopsis for "Eternus":
When Athena's Temple is sacked by a mysterious Centurion in search of a relic once belonging to Zeus, the old gods are convinced this is Zeus' killer. Now Heracles must sober up and protect the only witness to identify the killer.
"Eternus" hits newstands in 2022.