Barry Sonnenfeld Working on DC Franchise?

Written by Comicbooks.com staff writer Jonathan Langer

After a hugely successful opening weekend for Men In Black III, and a generally favorable critical rating for the summer popcorn flick (it received a 68% on Rotten Tomatoes), Barry Sonnenfeld seems poised to continue this trend of comic book movies based on some early speculation about what his next project could be. The director was quoted by ComicBookMovie.com hinting at a possible new movie:

“You know, I’m talking to Warner Bros. about doing a franchise based on a comic that hasn’t been around since the 60s. But it’s too early to talk about it. But possibly, yes.”

Still far too vague to determine what the comic book could be, but Warner Bros. has only been doing DC comic book movies. And a DC comic franchise that hasn’t been active since the 60s really narrows down the possibilities. Most fans would probably rather see a proper Wonder Woman or Flash movie get made, and with DC’s complete lack of decent competition with Marvel in the comic book movie realm, with the exception of the Chris Nolan Batman trilogy, it wouldn’t make sense for them to pursue a lesser commodity and lose more money and confidence with fans, ala Green Lantern.

So if this does come to fruition, what series would it be? We’ve got a few ideas that DC might be thinking about dusting off and sending to Hollywood.

 Captain Atom. Everyone likes a good science-project-gone-horribly-wrong kind of hero, and the Captain Atom character could use an update. His powers of radio signal and cell phone perception would be interesting to see thrown into a modern-day technology-obsessed culture, and his nuclear abilities would offer plenty of excuses for pyrotechnical special effects that would certainly get people’s interest piqued. Another excuse for a 3D summer blockbuster…

 Plastic Man. The other thing besides special effects that movie-goers love to see is a good redemption story. The orphan-come-thief-come-superhero story offers lots of opportunity for character depth, something far too many recent superhero movies have completely missed. Aside from the fact that his nearly indestructible powers would be fun to see, Warner Bros. could really have a money-maker on their hands.

 Metamorpho. Adventure, radioactive meteorite, conflicting feelings about the superpowers, unrequited sidekick love. There’s a lot to go around here for possible movie fodder. But there’s also a lot to market since most people haven’t heard, nor would probably immediately care, to go see the Metamorpho movie.

So what do you think? Which franchise could Warner Bros. have in mind? Let us know what you think in the comments section.

Tags: Men in Black III, Barry Sonnenfeld, Comic Book Movie Rumors