For those who don’t know, me being one of those until about 5 minutes ago, Lady Killer is a Dark Horse comic series centered on a 1950’s housewife who leads a double life as a hired gun. That in and of itself sounds awesome, but let’s build on that. Get Blake Lively to star and then for the real cherry on top get Diablo Cody to write it. Done. Netflix, master of accomplishing the impossible, has setup this exact scenario. Ten years ago I would have seen this as an Angelina Jolie vehicle, but honestly I think Blake Lively is a much better get. Jolie has a dark side that can’t be hidden, but Lively, who’s come a LONG way since her Gossip Girl days is able to pull of suburban trophy wife AND relentless killer with equal aptitude. Look no further then her recent foray with Anna Kendrick in A Simple Favor to see both her sweet and salty sides. She deserves as much praise as her superstar husband, Ryan Reynolds, and this project has the creds to move her in that direction. Why? Well, I know comic book adaptations are a dime a dozen but this had the devil in the details.
That devil is Diablo (see what I did there?) Cody who is almost constantly lauded for her chops, but has shown herself to be most successful in female empowerment roles that have an edge an sincere sense of snark. No better place to cultivate this then in the arena that Lady Killer would build. Imagine someone in as a subservient role as a textbook 50s housewife, who has to put up with all the sexism and sexual harassments that two-martini lunch having husbands bring, knowing underneath it all that she is the true apex predator under that roof. Obviously, I’m a bit excited for this one.
Lady Killer is coming to Netflix as part of the first look deal they have with Dark Horse, a deal that’s already brought hits in The Umbrella Academy and Polar. No release date has been mentioned, but we’ll be sure to keep you up to date on any developments. [Deadline]
