It's no secret that Marvel (whether it's from Marvel Studios, 20th Century Fox or Sony) and DC have the superhero movie market cornered, but every now and then we're treated to an offering in this genre that's not from the Big Two. For 2020, that honor will belong to Bloodshot, with Vin Diesel playing the eponymous Valiant Comics character. It's become more difficult for these superhero movies to stand out from one another, but producer Dinesh Shamdasani believes Bloodshot won't have any difficulties in this area because Diesel emits an everyman quality with the character. Shamdasani explained:
It's exactly what Vin's talking about. The reason Bloodshot's been so popular and so successful is because he isn't an extraordinary human being who becomes a superhero. He's an ordinary guy that through extraordinary situations becomes this larger than life character, and the thing that's amazing about Vin is that even though you and I sitting here next to him and he's a monster and he's got the 'it' quality, on screen he has this amazing ability that you can watch him and say 'man, I could be Vin. I could be that guy' because he feels like us. And so that's what really works with Bloodshot. You emote with him before he becomes Bloodshot.
Sometimes it's difficult to make a character who's been given/obtained special powers, technology or enhanced skills relatable, but evidently that's not an issue with Bloodshot. Rather than start out exceptional and become even more so once he's became a superhero, Bloodshot, real name Ray Garrison, was a normal guy before he was injected with nanites that gave him abilities like super strength, regeneration and shapeshifting. Throw in Vin Diesel being able to keep this character down to Earth even with all the craziness going on, and Dinesh Shamdasani thinks that audiences will have an easier time connecting with Bloodshot.
Ahead of Dinesh Shamdasani comments, Vin Diesel told Comicbook.com that among the reasons he signed on for Bloodshot was because the comic book of the same name was a New York Times bestseller and he was attracted to how the character "doesn't abandon his humanity." Diesel already has some superhero movie experience under his belt by voicing Groot in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but Bloodshot affords him the opportunity to finally contribute to the genre in front of the camera.
No official Bloodshot story details have been revealed yet, but along with Vin Diesel, the cast includes Toby Kebbell, Lamorne Morris, Guy Pearce, Eiza Gonzalez, Sam Heughan, Talulah Riley, Alex Hernandez and Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson. Bloodshot is intended to be the first installment of a Valiant cinematic universe, with Harbinger, Shadowman, Faith and Archer and Armstrong movies also in development.
Directed by Dave Wilson and written by Eric Heisserer, Bloodshot will be released in theaters on February 21, 2020. For movies arriving a little sooner, check out our 2018 and 2019 release schedules.
