54. Green Arrow: Quiver
Oliver Queen, the original Green Arrow, perished in a plane explosion in issue #101. He was replaced by his son, Connor Hawke, who was main character until the titles cancellation with #137 in the 90s. In 2002, DC was announced that the book would be restarted with Oliver Queen back in the lead role. As we all know death is not important in comics. A character is killed, only to be written back to life at a later time. The important thing is to give a good reason why the character returns, and to create interest for the return. With Quiver, incorporating the first ten issues of the new series, writer Kevin Smith succeeds in both. Reading more like The Brave and The Bold mixed with a road movie, it chronicles Oliver Queens return from the dead, with his memory stopping a number of years before he actually died (giving the character a feel of his bronze age persona). He teams up with Batman and a succession of other heros to unravel the mystery. Delving into the more supernatural side of the DC Universe before a proposed Justice League movie, this Green Arrow story makes you care about the character of Oliver Queen. He is a good man trying to get on with his life, unaware of all that has gone wrong (mostly by his hand) during the years he has no memory of. From trying to get back with his girlfriend Black Canary (even though to him they never broke up) to connecting with the son he never knew existed, the villain he battles with most is himself. Quite literally at one point. Bringing to mind the works of Alan Moore and Niall Gaiman, Kevin Smith created one of the best stories DC have published with this arc and it would make a great movie.
How Close Is It To Being Made?: Warner Bros were looking at a Green Arrow movie around the time Chris Nolan's The Dark Knight was undergoing filming. Titled Super Max, the movie would have followed Green Arrow as the main character, beginning with him in jail for a crime he didn't commit, surrounded by the B-list DC villains that he had put away. Plans for that movie derailed as DC scaled back on all their adaptations of comic book heroes and instead focused on Green Lantern and a new reboot of Man of Steel. A Green Arrow tv series will soon debut on The CW.
Casting Choices: The Mentalists' Simon Baker would make a terrific Green Arrow.
Suggested by Tom White
53. Superior
Taking a (partial) turn from his probably more familiar kid-centric, adult fare like Kick Ass, Mark Millar, with artist Leinil Francis Yu, created a sharply written paen to classic comic book heroes, with a pleasant line in truly dark antagonists, and just a little bit of subversion with our current love affair with comic book cinema. Channeling Superman-esque superheroics, and the ubiquitous child's-eye view, Superior brings to life, Simon Pooni, multiple sclerosis sufferer and idolizer of superheroes, in particular our title character Superior, when in a piece of ultimate wish-fulfilment, an alien named Ormon (in the form of a monkey no less) appears and tells Simon that he has been chosen to receive one magic wish. Naturally Simon wishes big and a real-life Superior is born. Of course, things are never that simple, and Simon discovers that Ormon is in fact a demon who demands Simon's soul in exchange for full-time Superior duty. Meanwhile Simon's bullying nemesis gets the same treatment in the form of Superior's enemy Abraxas. So Simon must ultimately ask himself, is saving the world worth selling one's soul? Millar also throws in the real-world conceit that the character of Superior has already been made into a series of successful, if quality diminishing, films, and that the incarnation of Superior Simon becomes is an exact copy of the screen version, and thus the actor involved. It's epic, thoughtful, and strangely enough, a perfect fit for the multiplex.
How Close Is It To Being Made? With this one you might be wise to put a few notes on seeing Superior fly in the next few years. Matthew Vaughn has, according to Mr Millar, purchased the film rights and after directing Kick-Ass and X-Men:First Class, and now steering Kick-Ass 2 and the X-Men: First Class sequel towards our screens, it would seem that Vaughn's affair with superhero movies is just starting. There is one very, large shadow looming over Superior however, and he wears blue and red and will be storming his way into cinemas next summer. After Supes possibly takes back his crown, anything Superman-esque that follows may just look pale in comparison.
Casting Choices: To stay true to the comic, which plays on the chiselled perfection of an actor already playing the role, we can't really have any 'subversive' casting here - no blonde Bonds for example - though the similarity to Superman will of course cause a few problems. However, looking on the bright side there is a ready-made list for casting directors of those unfortunate to be pipped to the post by Henry Cavill. Matthew Goode, Armie Hammer, Matthew Bomer, Joe Manganiello, Robin O'Donoghue; you could perhaps take your pick. A beefed Matthew Goode would be our choice, but Hollywood may not be able to stomach another Brit taking on an American comic hero.
Suggested by Mark Clark
52. Wormwood
Like any good atheist, Garth Ennis has a good working knowledge of the church after all, youve got to know your enemy. In Wormwood, just as in Preacher (guess how high that one turns up in this list!) he takes the traditions of organised religion and takes them to hell and back. The eponymous hero is, of course, the Antichrist; the son of Satan. He runs a TV network a not at all disguised reference to HBO has walked out on dad and owns a foul-mouthed rabbit who steals most of the scenes. And why not? Add a sexually deviant, racist pope, a retarded Jesus and a sordid affair with Joan of Arc (ooh you feelthy swine) and youve got a recipe for Ennis magic. Okay, so Danny Wormwood is reminiscent of Jesse Custer, and the filler one-shot that sets up the third series feels a little phoned-in, but when this works it really works. If this ever becomes a film, watch out for the road-trip to hell!
How Close Is It To Being Made?: It's not currently.
Suggested by Tom White
51. Supreme
No comic series needs a second chance to prove how amazing it could have been than Rob Liefelds Supreme. He was the ultimate anti-hero: Superman gone bad. What happens when the worlds most powerful man returns to Earth and doesnt like what he finds? Unswerving bloody chaos is what! Crossing themes of religion, dictatorship, extreme socialism and capital punishment, Supreme was telling a story that others were too scared to and had me hooked well, for the first 3 issues at least. Somehow he got derailed by the ever-changing creative teams and ended up crossed-over, watered down and then insane. But Supreme was the original Irredeemable. In our current climate of international fear mongering and the over extension of government control we need to explore the consequences of what we have done.
How Close Is It To Being Made: Not close.
Suggested by David Hawkins
50. Rising Stars
Theres one superhero comic that many people would love to see adapted for the big screen J. Michael Straczynskis Rising Stars. Its one part Watchmen, one part 4400 and another part AWESOME. Plus its J. Michael Straczynski! Yknow, the man whos name is forever linked to all your favourite things ever! He-Man, Babylon 5 this guy knows how to write good television. Set in a world where a select group of individuals are suddenly granted superpowers, Rising Stars is as much about the way society would deal with real life heroes as it is about anything else. Narrated from the future by the last remaining hero the story does bare several similarities with Heroes in that Specials as theyre known in this are being murdered and their abilities harvested by an unknown assailant. The big difference between Rising Stars and NBCs cancelled effort is the existence of an established story arc that would guarantee the audience a worthwhile and sensible conclusion, it would also have a wider appeal and could easily be marketed at a less adult audience than say The Boys. Plus, now that Smallville has flown off into Earths Yellow Sun theres room in the schedule for your new favourite hero. Also, did I mention it was J. Michael Straczynski? How Close Is It To Being Made?: Nothing has been announced.
Suggested by Matt Aspin