Eric Fellner and
Tim Bevan, the big-heads behind Working Title Films,
have acquired the rights to
Kurt Busiek's long-running anthology series
Astro City. The story focuses on superheroes living in the titular metropolis ever since the first World War, but these guys aren't really as glamorous as the "supermen" you'd normally see on the big screen or in comic-books. Astro City falls more in line with tales like
Watchmen and
Kick-Ass, cutting-down on the overall glitz and glamor of being a superhero and exposing these "extraordinary" beings for what they really are: real people who have to deal with real life problems. I'm not against fresh-takes when it comes to the superhero genre, but I kinda' feel like it's been done already and we don't need to see yet another cynical shot at comic-book heroes and heroines. Kick-Ass, despite being somewhat comedic in general, showed us a very real take on what would happen if some regular kid picked up a mask, a baseball bat, an extra dosage of adrenaline, and ran around thinking he was a superhero. Watchmen, on the other hand, brought in more "superpower" elements via Dr. Manhattan and gave us a grounded look at a world struggling to cope with masked vigilantes and demi-God-like people living amongst ordinary folk. Right now, I'm pretty happy with the way things are going, and I'm not in the mood for another "real" perspective on 'men in masks'. While I am still skeptical about
Thor and
Captain America, we're heading straight into
Batman 3, Superman: The Man Of Steel, and
The Avengers in a couple of years, so I'm getting prepped for all-out blasts with magic hammers, riddlers, flying shields, and green monsters at the box-office! Plus if I need a "realistic angle" on superheroes, I'll slip in
The Dark Knight on Blu-Ray. Hopefully my interest in this project grows in time.