The Shadow, Buck Rogers, The Phantom, Doc Savage….if you recognized more then 1 of those four names, congratulations, you are what we call a cultured nerd. These are all characters from the pulp era of heroes, before Marvel and DC. Their adventures were told in cheap dime store novels and on one of those radios that could double as a support beam for your house. They lead the way for the likes of Superman and Captain America, but the poor old chaps haven’t really gotten the respect they deserve. Buck Rogers had a bit of a renisaance in the 70s, The Shadow and The Phantom both failed spectacularly during their attempted reboots in the 90’s and poor Doc Savage hasn’t even made it that far, stuck in the dreaded development hell for….well, forever.
Most recently it was rumored that the role was attached to Dwayne “Box Office” Johnson, but he’s since left the project. All was quite on the Savage front until Deadline broke the story today that Sony Pictures is working with Neal H. Moritz’s Original Film to bring the alpha hero to TV. No word yet on a platform, date, or cast but hey, movement is movement right?
So that brings us to the most important question that I’m sure is on all of your minds….who the F$*k is Doc Savage? Wikipedia to the rescue!
Doc Savage’s real name is Clark Savage, Jr. He is a physician, scientist, adventurer, detective, inventor, explorer, researcher, and, as revealed in The Polar Treasure, a musician. A team of scientists assembled by his father deliberately trained his mind and body to near-superhuman abilities almost from birth, giving him great strength and endurance, a photographic memory, a mastery of the martial arts, and vast knowledge of the sciences. Doc is also a master of disguise and an excellent imitator of voices. “He rights wrongs and punishes evildoers.” Dent described the hero as a mix of Sherlock Holmes’ deductive abilities, Tarzan’s outstanding physical abilities, Craig Kennedy’s scientific education, and Abraham Lincoln’s goodness. He also described Doc Savage as manifesting “Christliness.” Doc’s character and world-view is displayed in his oath
