Brian K. Vaughan has been the mastermind behind two very popular comics that have been adapted or soon will be. One is Marvel’s Runaways, which just wrapped up its final season on Hulu, the other is Y: The Last Man, which is finally coming to series on FX. Both of those were originally slated to be feature films, but kept running into obstacles, and now another of Vaughan’s comics is being developed for the big screen. Let’s see if this one makes it.
THR reports that a movie adaptation of Vaughan’s superhero/political comic Ex Machina is in the works from Legendary Entertainment. However, since they don’t want it to be confused with Alex Garland’s sci-fi movie of the same name, it’ll instead be titled The Great Machine. Anna Waterhouse and Joe Scrapnel, who recently penned the Kristen Stewart drama Seberg, have been hired as writers.
Ex Machina was published from 2004-2010 and centered on Mitchell Hundred, a man gifted with the ability to control machines. He uses those powers to become the world’s first true superhero, referring to himself as The Great Machine, and after saving the day on 9/11 uses his popularity to become Mayor of New York City.
There may be changes that go beyond the movie’s title, but for now the plot has Hundred dealing with “a threatened political career when the source of his powers returns to claim its debt.” Vaughan is on board as a producer, having reclaimed the rights along with artist Tony Harris after a failed attempt by New Line to adapt the comic over a number of years. It was there that Cale Boyter became a fan o the project, and reconnected with Vaughan after moving to Legendary.
I wouldn’t be surprised if this eventually gets altered into a TV series, just like Vaughan’s other comic adaptations. Ex Machina is too big of a story, encompassing not only Mitchell’s political career but his superhero one, for a single movie or even a trilogy of movies.
