With the genre-mashing and surprisingly adorable Sweet Tooth serving as one of Netflix's biggest hits of all time, it makes sense that the streaming service's execs would be keen on working with co-creator Jim Mickle for another adaptation of an acclaimed comic book series. So it shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise that the studio has swooped in to be the exclusive home for Mickle’s upcoming project, a feature take on the gloriously fantastical and violent adventure God Country from Legendary and AfterShock Media.
Jim Mickle worked closely with Sweet Tooth mastermind Jeff Lemire for that dark adventure, and he’ll thankfully be working with God Country writer Donny Cates, who co-created the acclaimed Texas-set comic with artist Geoff Shaw. (The duo went on to craft Marvel’s Thanos series, among other amazing titles.) It’ll be very interesting to see how Mickle and Cates choose to adapt the story for live-action, considering how cemented it is within the comic medium in a way that many others are not. It’s a good thing Netflix has deep pockets that allow for high-level brainstorming in such cases.
For those who aren’t familiar — but for real, change that and go read it — God Country is a six-issue series published in 2017 that centers on a dementia-suffering old coot named Emmet Quinlan. Known by his family and local authorities for being a rather violent rabble-rouser in the West Texas town of Marathon, Emmet becomes a changed man after a tornado destroys his home, among many other locations in the area. And it’s all thanks to a bigass enchanted sword, as it should be.
But for all the good that the sword does for Emmet on a personal level, it’s also responsible for attracting some dangerous and otherworldly creatures, and Emmet is the only one who can stop them from bringing further destruction. Everything, even the threat of monsters, is bigger in Texas, and I cannot wait to see who gets cast in that all-important lead role. I mean, it might as well be The Rock at this point, but who knows?
As reported by THR, God Country is the latest project serving as a team-up between Netflix and Legendary, which was behind the highly successful Enola Holmes feature with Millie Bobby Brown and Henry Cavill. (A sequel for that Sherlock-ian tale is currently in the making.) The two studios are also working together for the upcoming live-action Gundam series, which will no doubt be as pleasing and polarizing as other live-action anime adaptations have been.
At this time, it's unclear when God Country might swing down upon Netflix's film slate, with Jim Mickles being busy as ever these days. It's also not confirmed when Sweet Tooth Season 2 will arrive, but keep your ears and antlers open for more info. In the meantime, check out all the upcoming 2022 movies fans can look forward to!
