Mark Millar has gone from comic book writer to hot Hollywood property in just a few short months, after Wanted became one of the surprise hits of the summer. In fact, he's so hot right now that he has studios interested in his new comic book, about the Iraq war. Unfortunately, though, there's another comic book that's almost identical in concept that may get in the way.
Slashfilm has the details, coming from an unnamed source in Hollywood. Apparently Millar's War Heroes has been making the studio rounds, described as "Full Metal Jacket meets X-Men." But also drawing interest, and several years older than War Heroes, is Grunts, by Shannon Eric Denton and Keith Giffen. Hilariously, Grunts is described as "24 meets X-Men" as well as "Tom Clancy on speed."
War Heroes is set during a future John McCain Presidency and is about the Iraq war, while Grunts takes place during World War II. Still, the two movies do sound too similar to ever get made, unless one of them is produced first and becomes a huge, huge hit. So, which one will make it out of the gate? It might be smart for studios to hang on for Watchmen, which uses a similar concept of sending superheroes to fight wars. If the public buys that, they might find themselves ready to send X-Men into battle.
