In news sure to thrill all comic-book aficionados, Ain’t It Cool News is reporting that Valiant Entertainment is working to turn its popular comic-book series Archer & Armstrong into a movie. According to the site’s “very reliable source,” Valiant ordered a script, which has been completed and met with a great reception by the company’s execs. Now that a script is set, Archer & Armstrong will head into production soon.
The buddy adventure comic-book series, most recently by Fred Van Lente and Clayton Henry, “follows the offbeat adventures of Archer—a sheltered young man raised by a religious sect and possessing the ability to mimic any fighting style he sees, and his partner Armstrong—an immortal drunkard with a penchant for chaos, mayhem, and inebriated fisticuffs.” It was originally created by Jim Shooter, Barry Windsor-Smith and Bob Layton back in the early ’90s, and has developed a small but very loyal following of fans over the years.
AICN also reports that the Archer & Armstrong movie will find the pair taking on The One Percent, a bull and bear mask-wearing secret society tied to Wall Street, and will also feature the Eternal Warrior, Archer’s brother and the star of his own comic-book series. AICN looks at his involvement in the movie as a sign that Valiant Entertainment could be pushing for the creation of a cinematic universe à la Marvel. J. Michael Straczynski is already writing a Shadowman adaptation for Valiant, and Matthew Vaughn is set to direct a Bloodshot film, so Valiant looks to be well on its way to setting up such a universe.
I’ve never read Archer & Armstrong, but the comic-book series has been well-received through the Van Lente/Henry run and earned a notable following, so it should be interesting to see how Valiant proceeds with putting a film adaptation together. Due to my inexperience with the series, I’m not even going to take a stab at casting this thing, but of course, I’d love to hear what you readers have to say on the matter.
Who would be an ideal Archer or your perfect Armstrong? Let us know below!
