Around a year ago, Netflix, already a giant in the entertainment industry, added a massive new set of tools to its belt when it bought Mark Millar's Millarworld. The streaming company purchased the comic publishing company with an eye towards developing movies, TV series and kids' shows based on Millarworld's characters and properties. Now, we know what titles will be adapted into movies first as Netflix has revealed its Millarworld movies slate, with Empress, Huck and Sharkey The Bounty Hunter all on the way.
This is just the opening slate, with presumably much more to come in the future, but all three of these titles are already in development with names attached. Mark Millar's Empress tells the story of Queen Emporia, who is married to the galaxy's most evil villain, the dictator King Morax. When she escapes with her children, Emporia must hop from planet to planet to try and avoid the King and his army and protect her children at all costs. Lindsey Beer, whose name is attached to some of the most exciting geeky properties in the works right now, including Silver & Black and The Kingkiller Chronicle, is on board to adapt the comic book for the screen.
Hidden Figures screenwriter Ted Melfi is attached to adapt Mark Millar's Huck into a feature film for Netflix. Huck is a sort of small scale, non-traditional superhero story. It tells the tale of a gas station attendant named Huck in a small seaside town who uses his powers to do good deeds on a local level. His neighbors keep his secret, but a newcomer throws his world upside down by alerting the media, bringing Huck fame, but also dredging up his past and sending him on a life changing adventure.
The third film announced by Netflix is unique in that isn't an adaptation of an existing Millarworld property. Sharkey The Bounty Hunter is a new comic that will be published next year under the Millarworld/Netflix banner. Michael Bacall will write the screenplay for the Sharkey The Bounty Hunter movie. His previous work includes 21 Jump Street and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. Sharkey The Bounty Hunter sounds absolutely wild, as it will tell the story of Sharkey, a blue-collar bounty hunter who tracks down targets across the galaxy in a rocket-powered ice cream truck with the assistance of his ten-year-old partner. The film will see Sharkey taking on his biggest job yet. Netfix didn't give an exact date, but shows this will arrive in 2020.
Never one to neglect the kind of binge-worthy TV series that made it famous, Netflix also has two Millarworld shows in the works, Jupiter's Legacy and American Jesus, which are set to arrive in 2021 and 2020, respectively. Jupiter's Legacy will tell a multi-generational superhero tale following the first heroes in the 1930s and their super powered children in the present who are trying to live up to their legacy. Steven S. DeKnight, who served as showrunner on Daredevil season 1 and Spartacus, will be the showrunner for Jupiter's Legacy. American Jesus will be a multilingual series (Spanish/English) that follows a twelve-year-old boy who discovers that he is the second coming of Christ and all the obvious challenges that come with that. That sounds super interesting and I'm sure not at all controversial.
The one thing that is clear from Netflix's announcement is just how ambitious these plans are. There are three movies and two TV shows in development at the moment, and this is just the first slate. What's also cool is how varied these properties are with each sounding different in tone, character and story, and not all just folks in tights. Marvel and DC take up most of the oxygen around comic book movies and shows, but as Mark Millar's Kingsman and Kick-Ass have proved, the medium is the birthplace of all kinds of unique and fun stories deserving of film adaptations, so it's exciting that this many are on the way.
Netflix did not reveal exact dates for when these movies and series will arrive, but we'll keep you updated. Check out our Netflix premiere schedule for everything hitting the streaming service in the coming months.
