While DC and Marvel are making huge waves with their recent cinematic announcements, it's easy to forget that there's some independent comic properties in the works in the movie industry as well. Case in point is the Soska Sisters' planned adaptation of Painkiller Jane, a film based off of the 1995 comic of the same name. What particularly sets a franchise like Painkiller Jane apart from typical Marvel Comics fare is the fact that it's a series that's very open with profanity, violence, and sexuality. According to the Soskas, that's not going to be toned down one bit.
Crave Online caught Jen and Sylvia Soska at New York Comic Con last weekend, and they had quite a bit to say about how their fast tracked adaptation is going to try and bust down the walls of impediment for every other comic book heroine out there. When espousing the importance of keeping Painkiller Jane as true the source material as possible. Jen Soska had this to say when discussing the importance of the third bite at the Painkiller Jane apple being the purest:
"It has to be an R-rated character... because when you come to a character like Jane, she drinks, she fights, she fucks, she talks like you and I talk, and that’s an important part of her character."
Now before you even mention movies like Elektra or Catwoman to the Soska Sisters, you should be informed that they don't even consider movies like that as serious comic films. Honestly, it's not hard to agree with their opinion, as those films are widely considered to be crap. However, the Soskas are so dead set on bringing an outside of the box heroine like Painkiller Jane to the screen that they not only expect the R-rating that most mainstream filmmakers fear, but also embrace the possibility with full relish. Or, as Sylvia Soska put it:
"There are some scenes in this movie, there’s no way they’re not going to slap us with an R. Once you see it, it’s going to just be batshit crazy."
With a script already finished and an actress already in contention for the titular role, Jen and Sylvia Soska's Painkiler Jane sounds ready to take on the world of mainstream comic flicks. Considering that even Marvel and DC have had limited but notable success with more mature properties in their line up, it's not hard to see either company continuing to fuel an R-rated renaissance of titles such as V For Vendetta and Soska Sisters favorite The Punisher. Maybe this is what the business needs, considering even Robert Downey Jr. is starting to become complacent with the state of comic films.
While we don't have a date on the Soska Sisters' Painkiller Jane reboot, it wouldn't be too hard to imagine a major announcement naming both a date and an actress by the end of the year.
