Tom King, a comics scribe who is co-writing DC's New Gods movie with director Ava DuVernay, says the film will honor the vision of the characters' legendary creator, Jack Kirby. The protagonists of Kirby's Fourth World series are the fourth generation of gods. The new film will chart the galactic war spanning the planets of New Genesis and Apokalips, and see heroes such as Mister Miracle and Big Barda taking on the villainous Darkseid, who seeks to eliminate free will across the known Universe.
DuVernay, who is the first Black female director to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture for Selma as well as the director of the upcoming HBO Max dystopian miniseries DMZ based on the comics of the same name, asked DC for a chance to bring the New Gods to the big screen. King, a two-time Eisner Award-winner who has written for Batman and Mister Miracle, makes his screenwriting debut as DuVernay's cowriter. The film has been in the works for quite a long time and is no doubt being buffeted by the pandemic that has affected DC's whole lineup, but the excellent talent behind the scenes bodes well for New Gods when it eventually does come out.
Speaking on the ComicBook.com Phase Zero podcast, King said that he and DuVernay will be sure to honor Kirby's genius in the script. King described the process of working on the film and with DuVernay, calling it "a joy." King said that DuVernay is focused on the emotional core of the characters and the uniquely complex relationships that Kirby wrote for them. Check out his full quote below:
To give a movie like New Gods to a visionary director like Ava. To me, Jack Kirby and Ava are very similar creators. They come from similar places and they have sort of parallel histories and I feel like I'm just the person meeting these two people together so they can create something that's unique...Working with Ava is a joy, she's incredibly focused on the emotional core of these characters. It's been fun, I've never written a movie before now I've done some TV, none of it ever comes out, Hollywood's a weird place. But I've done some of that but this is my first sort of big, huge movie with space battles and all that stuff. It's a ball, as long as we focus on the core Jack Kirby relationships that he created, that make it good, it's going to be a good movie. That's where Ava and I both are."
Following in the footsteps of a master is always a smart decision, as Kirby's creations continue to entertain millions. Once a frequent collaborator with Stan Lee, Kirby originated Captain America and helped to bring the Fantastic Four, X-Men, Hulk, and Iron Man to life. Kirby originally envisioned the New Gods as characters in the Thor comics for Marvel, with Thor, Loki, and Odin among the old gods who destroyed one version of the world during Ragnarok. Kirby and Lee famously had a falling out over Kirby not receiving proper compensation for his many contributions to the Marvel universe. His knack for storytelling continued to shine through in his move to DC.
The New Gods still appear to this day in the DC universe. One of their ranks just recently saved the Suicide Squad, and Darkseid played a humorous supporting role in the Harley Quinn animated series on HBO Max. Across Marvel and DC properties, Kirby's characters are still iconic figures in pop culture. King and DuVernay are exceedingly talented individuals, and they are wisely following a golden rule in storytelling – if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Source: ComicBook.com
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