Although Ava DuVernay flirted with directing either Black Panther or Captain Marvel, her first comic book movie for one of the big two is actually New Gods. She couldn’t have chosen a tougher comic to adapt, honestly. The DC Comics characters, creations of the legendary Jack “King” Kirby, are far more high-concept than the typical superhero. So it’s no surprise she’s enlisted some help from one of the best comic book writers in the business, Batman scribe Tom King.
DuVernay revealed on Twitter (and confirmed by TheWrap) that King is joining her to help script New Gods. If you don’t know King, he’s the Eisner Award-winning writer of the Vision series which is rumored to be the basis of the WandaVision Disney+ show. He also wrote Mister Miracle and is finishing up an acclaimed run on Batman.
King’s work on the Mister Miracle series is a big reason why he’s perfect for New Gods. For those who don’t keep track of every obscure DC Comics series, New Gods follows the immortal natives of two warring planets: the idyllic New Genesis ruled by Highfather, and the nightmarish Apokolips lorded over by Darkseid, the guy who was supposed to be the villain of Zack Snyder’s Justice League films. The series combined mythology, science-fiction, folklore, and political intrigue to explore themes rarely tackled in traditional comic books. Mister Miracle was part of all that as the son of Highfather, loaned to Darkseid as part of a truce agreement. So King has more than his share of experience in this corner of the DC universe. I wouldn’t expect to see any cameos by The Flash or Shazam, though.
All the more reason to be pumped over New Gods, and I’m expecting we’ll be hearing more about it at Comic-Con in a couple of months.
Hey @TomKingTK. Ready to write NEW GODS, buddy? A. ✨✨✨ pic.twitter.com/FFpLDt75mm— Ava DuVernay (@ava) May 29, 2019
