8 Other Early Superheroes Who Deserve Their Own Movies

This week brought the news that Dwayne ‘Don’t Call Him The Rock’ Johnson has been cast as the lead in a new Doc Savage movie to be directed by Iron Man 3’s Shane Black. Though he has fallen into obscurity over the past few decades, Doc Savage is basically the original superhero and had a huge influence on the likes of Superman and Batman. A popular character from pulp fiction magazines of the 30s and 40s, Dr. Clark Savage - also known as the Man of Bronze – possessed superhuman physical and mental capabilities and was often referred to as a “superman.” Let’s hope the Doc Savage movie is a good one, as it could reawaken an interest in pulpier superhero films. In many ways, it does make sense for the superhero movie genre to keep itself fresh by diving right back to the beginnings of superhero fiction, and so, with that in mind, here are eight other early superheroes who deserve either a rookie outing on the big screen, or a second attempt. 8) Spring-Heeled Jack Back in the 1840s, there was a widespread urban legend that terrified the populace of Ye Olde London Town. According to this legend, a man with devil horns and the ability to leap huge bounds (some claimed he could even breathe fire) was said to be assaulting ladies in the night. The story caught on and the so-called Spring-Heeled Jack became the star of Victorian pulp magazines (nicknamed Penny Dreadfuls). In those, however, Jack became less of a monster and more of a vigilante who roamed the rooftops, dishing out justice. Hailing from around a hundred years before superheroes became a thing, if early heroes are set to make a bit of a comeback on the big screen, then why not make a movie of the earliest one of all? Spring-Heeled Jack is basically a Victorian Batman, and there's no way you could say you wouldn’t want to see a film featuring a character like that. 7) The Shadow If Doc Savage is one of the big influences on modern superheroes, then The Shadow is another. Actually wealthy socialite Kent Allard (though he often goes by Lamont Cranston), The Shadow was trained by Tibetan monks to the peak of physical and mental health – and also in the ability to hypnotize and manipulate minds. Though he has been a star of pulp novels and comic books since, The Shadow originated from a 1930s radio show where he was voiced by Orson Welles. There was also 1994’s The Shadow starring Alec Baldwin. Sadly, it did not meet expectations and a potential movie franchise for the character was nixed. More recently, Spider-Man’s Sam Raimi has been trying to get a reboot off the grounds, but with no success. Let’s hope he does pull through eventually though, as there's a lot of potential for The Shadow to be a great big screen superhero, one who fans will surely get a kick out of. 6) The Crimson Avenger First featuring in Detective Comics #20, The Crimson Avenger has the honour of being DC’s first ever masked hero. In truth, he was heavily inspired by the likes of The Shadow and The Green Hornet – with a snappy colour-coordinated dress sense and an Asian sidekick (the Kato-like Wing). It would be great to see this important character in DC’s history get his chance in the limelight. In a similar way to what Marvel did with Captain America: The First Avenger, a Crimson Avenger movie could be a part of the DCEU and showcase the original costumed hero in that universe. Alternatively, they could do a film of his early superhero team The Seven Soldiers of Victory, which also features western-themed hero The Vigilante, medieval immortal Shining Knight and none other than Green Arrow (who obviously needs to get a solo movie soon, as well). 5) Namor The Sub-Mariner One of the bad things about Marvel properties being spread out over different studios (e.g. Fox have the X-Men) is that it is sometimes unclear who owns which characters. As such, legal issues stop any of the studios involved from bringing them to the screen. One example of this is Namor The Sub-Mariner, whose rights rest somewhere between Marvel and Universal. This is a shame, as Namor is a huge presence in the Marvel comics universe. In fact, he’s the company’s first ever hero, introduced in 1939 back when they were still Timely Comics. Like the more famous Aquaman, he is a merman who is king of Atlantis. Unlike Aquaman though, he's often presented as an anti-hero or an outright antagonist. Seeing as Marvel made a deal with Sony for Spider-Man, maybe they can sort out Namor’s rights in a similar way in the near future. 4) The Spirit You might remember The Spirit movie from back in 2008, which sported a star-studded cast including Samuel L. Jackson and Scarlett Johansson and was comic book legend Frank Miller’s directorial debut. You also might not remember it, as it was a huge flop and was slammed by critics. For those unfamiliar with the hero, The Spirit is a character with a long and illustrious history, being the creation of the granddaddy of comic books Will Eisner. After faking his death, private eye Denny Colt resurrected himself as the masked vigilante The Spirit who fought evil in Central City (no, not The Flash’s Central City). He also has one of the most colourful rogues galleries of these early heroes, including never seen arch-enemy The Octopus (except in the movie, where he's played by Jackson). It’s unlikely to happen, but a new The Spirit movie is really needed to give the character the big screen treatment he truly deserves. 3) The Phantom Yet another early superhero who endured a disappointing movie outing is The Phantom. Billy Zane donned the character’s tight-fitting purple suit for 1996’s The Phantom but, though it has built up a cult following in the years since, it didn’t make much of an impression at the time. He deserves another adaptation, however, as there is so much more material to mine. Debuting in 1936, The Phantom was the very first fully-costumed superhero - complete with the now stereotypical ‘underwear on the outside’ look. Like later characters such as Black Panther, The Phantom is a legacy hero whose mantle is passed down from father to son, going right back to the first Phantom who was a cabin boy on Christopher Columbus’ ship. There is surely a good film to be made from the idea of a family of superheroes protecting the United States right through its history, and we're confident that if put it the hands of the right director, another Phantom film could do extremely well. 2) Flash Gordon Flash! Ah - ahh! Saviour of the universe! Yes, the titular character from 1980’s classic cult film Flash Gordon really needs a reboot. Arriving in 1934, there is some contention over whether Flash counts as a superhero, as his stories are more of a science fiction bent. He certainly influenced the subsequent wave of superhero fiction, though, so for the sake of argument we’re counting him as one. For those who don’t know, Flash Gordon (like the similar John Carter and Buck Rogers before him) was an ordinary Earthman who accidentally travelled to an alien planet - in this case the planet Mongo, ruled over by Flash’s arch-enemy Ming The Merciless. Last year, news emerged that Kingsman’s Matthew Vaughn was to direct a sequel to the 1980 film. This would actually be a great move, as Vaughn’s irreverent yet loving approach to his movies would be a perfect fit for a new Flash Gordon flick. 1) Masks Here's an idea: why not combine several of these early superheroes and have them star in one big team-up movie? As previous films based on some of them have shown, they sadly might not be big enough draws outside of comic book nerds to lead their own franchises. But one film that features a group of them could still fly. Dynamite Entertainment had the idea first with their Masks comic series. The book brings together the likes of The Shadow, The Spider, The Green Hornet (who really needs a reboot after the 2011 Seth Rogen misfire) and even Zorro! It sees the vigilantes team up to stop an American offshoot of the Nazis. An alternate history superhero movie, about superheroes operating during the war, could be an awesome, darker take on the genre - perhaps similar to Watchmen. Plus, we need really do need more superheroes with stylish headgear on our screens.