50 Comics That Should Be Movies

Luke Cage

The Comic: Also known as Power Man, Luke Cage has almost impervious skin and superhuman strength. Mike Benson and Adam Glass wrote the stellar Luke Cage Noir series, which reimagines the hero in the 1930s.

The Movie Version: An adaptation of the Noir run, with Cage put behind bars for attacking a police officer, then released to find America has become segregated. Precious director Lee Daniels would ace the social stuff.

Perfect Cast: Isaiah Mustafa

Dream Director: Lee Daniels

X-Factor

The Comic: A group of superheroes led by Multiple Man, X-Factor originally comprised members of the X-Men before replacing them with secondary characters from the comic.

The Movie Version: Spin-off alert! With the success of X-Men: First Class , this would be the perfect time to bring X-Factor to the big screen. X-Factor Investigations would our best bet on a big screen story.

Perfect Cast: Mickey Rourke, Ewan McGregor, Amy Acker, Thomas Dekker

Dream Director: Bryan Singer

Life On Another Planet

The Comic: What would actually happen if humans made first contact with an alien planet? Will Eisner shows us with his sci-fi graphic novel, which he wrote to prove that sci-fi comics can actually be good.

The Movie Version: Astrophysicist James Bludd is hired by the CIA to decipher a signal from Barnard’s Star that’s listing prime numbers. But is Earth ready for contact with aliens? Expect explosions, assassination plots and a few thought-provoking questions. Plus Hiddleston with a prosthetic nose.

Perfect Cast: Tom Hiddleston

Dream Director: Roland Emmerich

Top 10

The Comic: A super-group created by Alan Moore that polices the streets of Neopolis, a city populated entirely by people who have super-powers.

The Movie Version: Think Joss Whedon’s Avengers movie taken to the extreme, and revolving around social issues that split the population of Neopolis right down the middle. Zemeckis is a must – his world-making skills are second to none.

Perfect Cast: Jeff Bridges, Pam Ferris

Dream Director: Robert Zemeckis

Gen 13

The Comic: A more light-hearted version of X-Men , as young teens discover they have super-powers, then use them to fight bad guys.

The Movie Version: With its straight-forward premise, attractive young cast and cool powers, this is just begging to be made into a movie. The Wachowskis are the ones who should do it, what with their eye for action.

Perfect Cast: Kat Dennings, Heather Matarazzo, Chris Zylka

Dream Director: The Wachowskis

Iron Fist

The Comic: One of the coolest superheroes not to have a movie yet, Iron Fist is the man – a superhero trained in the fabled city of K’un-Lu who gains his power by killing a fire-belching serpent.

The Movie Version: ‘The Last Iron Fist Story’ would work great on the big screen, with our hero (Daniel Rand) meeting another Iron Fist in the shape of broken man Orson Randall. They both go up against HYDRA.

Perfect Cast: Liam Hemsworth

Dream Director: Steven Spielberg

Wonder Woman

The Comic: She first appeared in All-Star Comics in 1941, and has since been the star of her own comic. We all know the drill – she’s an Amazonian warrior princess with a whip and very small shorts.

The Movie Version: The TV series failed to launch, but Wonder Woman would still make for an awesome big-screen heroine. We’d pinch the plot from the comics and pit her against Ares, who wants to create a global nuclear war. Meanwhile, Wonder Woman sets out on a journey of self-discovery.

Perfect Cast: Alexa Davalos

Dream Director: Kathryn Bigelow

The Nightly News

The Comic: Six-issue series from Jonathan Hickman in which The Hand leads an army in revolution.

The Movie Version: A very timely examination of the media (watch out Rupert Murdoch), with Karl Urban slinging guns as The Hand.

Perfect Cast: Karl Urban

Dream Director: Robert Rodriguez

Aquaman

The Comic: Though he started life as a back-up character over at DC, Aquaman’s poularity quickly meant he got his own solo series, and went on to become a founding member of the Justice League.

The Movie Version: Aquaman #15-20 ‘American Tidal’ would provide a suitably epic starting point for an Aquaman film franchise, as half of San Diego is sunken under water (watch out Comic-Con)...

Perfect Cast: Ryan Gosling

Dream Director: James Cameron

Umbrella Academy

The Comic: Wildly imaginative series from My Chemical Romance singer Gerard Way. The adoptive superhero kids of Sir Reginald Hargreeves reunite after his death.

The Movie Version: Gabriel Bá’s artwork on the series is so beautiful that we’d want an animated movie that sticks closely to his scribbles. Jeremy Irons to voice Hargreeves and Patrick Stewart to voice talking chimp Dr Pogo.

Perfect Cast: Jeremy Irons, Patrick Stewart

Dream Director: Hayao Miyazaki