I don’t need to tell any of you that cinematic universes are all the rage in Hollywood, especially the ones revolving around superheroes. Sony established one of these last year with Venom, but it was also looking to establish a world for the Valiant Comics characters, starting with the Vin Diesel-led Bloodshot that arrives next year.
Unfortunately for Sony and Bloodshot, while the Valiant Cinematic Universe is still moving forward, it’s happening at a separate studio. The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that Harbinger, another Valiant property that was announced to get the big screen treatment years back, has moved to Paramount Pictures. Insiders also told the outlet that Valiant Entertainment plans on keeping the rest of its core characters, like X-O Manowar, Eternal Warrior, and Archer & Armstrong, together, making it sound like those movies will also be set up at Paramount.
So what does this mean for Bloodshot? Basically, it’s now a situation akin to Spider-Man’s situation with Marvel. While Marvel Studios now has the rights to most of the Marvel Comics characters, including the X-Men and Fantastic Four thanks to the Disney/Fox merger, Sony still holds the rights to Spider-Man and is not letting go of him and his gigantic cast of supporting characters and villains. Hence why we won’t be seeing any more of Spidey in the MCU, as Disney and Sony have gone their separate ways due to disagreements concerning the future of Tom Holland’s version of the Web-Slinger.
With Valiant, Bloodshot is filling the Spider-Man role, because the comic book company already worked out a deal with Sony to make the Bloodshot movie, and it’s hardly shocking to hear that Sony hopes it’s the first movie in a franchise. While he was initially being set up as a major player in the Valiant Cinematic Universe, now he’ll be a standalone entity while Harbinger and all these other characters will likely get to operate in their own world.
Going back to Harbinger, which follows a group superpowered teenage outcasts who fight back against the corporation trying to use their powers for their own sinister plans, it’s retaining its filmmaker, Justin Tipping; the script Tipping wrote with Joshua Beirne-Golden, which was worked off a previous draft by Arrival’s Eric Heisserer; and producer Neil Moritz, who will produce alongside Toby Jaffe and Valiant Comics' Dan Mintz.
Originally the plan was for Harbinger to shoot this summer or fall, and actors like Dylan O’Brien and Noah Centineo looking to join, but now the project is no longer being fast-tracked and will instead go through a “shorter development process” at Paramount before moving forward again. Although Bloodshot and Harbinger crossed over on the printed page in the comic book event Harbinger Wars, now that Bloodshot has been isolated at Sony, it’s unlikely we’ll see that story be adapted.
As for the Bloodshot movie, it stars Vin Diesel as Ray Garrison, who, like his comic book counterpart, is resurrected by a team of scientists that enhances him with nanotechnology. When Ray regains the memories of his old life, he hunts down the man who killed him and his wife and uncovers a larger conspiracy.
Dave Wilson directed Bloodshot, Jeff Wadlow wrote the script with Eric Heisserer, and the cast also includes Guy Pearce, Eiza González, Sam Heughan, Talulah Riley, Toby Kebbell, Lamorne Morris, Alex Hernandez and Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson. It’s still scheduled to be released in theaters on February 21, 2020.
Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for any other updates concerning Bloodshot or the now-separate Valiant Cinematic Universe, and check out our 2019 release schedule to learn what movies are coming out for the rest of this year.
