Well, it was a fun thought while it lasted. Earlier this year we learned Spike Lee was in talks to direct Sony’s Nightwatch, which would’ve been part of the same cinematic universe as their hit Venom movie. It would have been a huge move for the veteran filmmaker to helm his first superhero movie, and quite a feather in Sony’s cap following the acclaim he’s receiving for BlacKkKlansman. Sadly, it ain’t happening.
ScreenRant took a moment to ask Spike about Nightwatch, and the famously abrasive director confirmed he was no longer involved with a simple answer: “Nah.”
Oh well. Now the question is whether Nightwatch is still a thing at all. It had Luke Cage showrunner Cheo Hodari Coker on board to pen the script, and I suppose the search for a new director is on. Sony may decide to take a wait and see approach. While Venom was huge, they face a much steeper uphill climb with Morbius the Living Vampire. If that doesn’t work out we may see Nightwatch put on the shelf.
My hope is that it happens because Nightwatch, while a D-list Marvel character if there ever was one, has a particularly awesome origin that’s on some Looper meets Spawn shit.
Over ten years ago, Dr. Kevin Trench was attacked by the invisible Camouflage Cadre and rescued by a man called Nightwatch, who drove the Cadre back through a time portal before dying. Trench discovered his rescuer was an older version of himself. When his lover Ashley Croix’s plane was hijacked by A.I.M., Trench donned the Nightwatch’s super-powered battle-suit and confronted the hijackers, but the inexperienced Trench triggered an explosion, killing all aboard. Guilt-stricken, Trench exiled himself and the apparently indestructible battle-suit to a remote island. Croix, who had changed planes at the last minute, later married industrialist Damon Morelle and bore his son, Nolan, whose illness required frequent skin grafts. Financed by the secretive cabal Fold, Morelle initiated Project: Sharkskin to cure Nolan via a nano-technological bodysuit, destined to become Nightwatch’s battle-suit.
