In 2019, many years after he lost out on the opportunities to play Spider-Man and Batman, Jake Gyllenhaal finally made his comic book movie debut in Spider-Man: Far From Home, where he played Quentin Beck, a.k.a. Mysterio. While it remains to be seen if Gyllenhaal’s villainous character is indeed dead in the Marvel Cinematic Universe or if he’ll come back with a vengeance in Spider-Man: No Way Home, the actor has already lined up another comic book movie. And along with his traditional acting duties, Gyllenhaal will also be working behind the scenes on this project.
Jake Gyllenhaal has signed on to produce and star in Oblivion Song, the film adaptation of the same-named comic book series by The Walking Dead and Invincible creator Robert Kirkman and artist Lorenzo De Felici. For those unfamiliar the Image Comics series, Oblivion Song takes place in a reality where one decade ago, a portion of Philadelphia, along with 300,000 of its citizens, were lost in an event called Oblivion. The government tried to rescue these people, but eventually gave up, But ever day, a man named Nathan Cole ventures out to try and find those who are still living in this apocalyptic hellscape.
While the Oblivion Song movie doesn’t have a director attached yet, Jake Gyllenhaal will produce through his Nine Stories film banner with Riva Marker, while over at Skybound Entertainment, Robert Kirkman will produce alongside David Alpert, Bryan Furst and Sean Furst. Brian Oliver and Bradley Fischer are also producing through New Republic Entertainment, which optioned the film rights to Oblivion Song. This is the first entry in a first-look deal between New Republic and Nine Stories. Here’s what Marker had to say about Oblivion Song moving forward (via Deadline):
We’re thrilled to partner with New Republic and Skybound on Robert Kirkman’s mind-blowingly captivating series. When faced with a cataclysmic event that permanently alters our lives, what would we choose to save? Just as Kirkman did with The Walking Dead and Invincible, in Oblivion Song, he’s created the potential for a franchise that is profoundly entertaining, and the perfect opportunity to explore big questions we’re reckoning with globally.
This marks yet another Robert Kirkman property being adapted in live-action, although unlike The Walking Dead, Invincible and Outcast, we’ll see Oblivion Song brought to life as a movie rather than on television. Kirkman noted in his own statement that he and his team can’t wait to see Jake Gyllenhaal “bring this character to life on the big screen.” Whether or not Oblivion Song does indeed launch a franchise is a question that won’t be answered for a long time, but at least this gives Gyllenhaal the chance to stretch his broaden his reach in the comic book movie realm beyond the Spider-Man film series.
Jake Gyllenhaal can next be seen in the Antoine Fuqua-directed Netflix movie The Guilty, which premieres on September 24. Following that, Gyllenhaal will star in Michael Bay’s Ambulance, which opens on February 18, 2022, but since the actor is also attached to projects like The Division, it’s hard to say when he’ll start working on Oblivion Song. In any case, we’ll keep you apprised on how it’s developing as more updates come in.
