On the one hand, I’m ecstatic to see Warner Bros. branching out beyond the likes of Batman and Superman by finally giving Wonder Woman and Aquaman their due. But on the other, some heroes they back for prospective film adaptations leave me quite baffled.
Suffice it to say, the decision to go ahead with a movie headlined by Plastic Man has me scratching my head, but I’m not the one writing checks. Then again, the studio could see great potential in an action-comedy, not to mention it being a 180-degree turn from the days of Zack Snyder’s darker DC Extended Universe that proved divisive with audiences.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, “up-and-coming screenwriter Amanda Idoko has been hired to pen the script for what will be a comedic action-adventure for Warner Bros. Bob Shaye, the former co-founder of New Line-turned-producer will executive produce.”
As you may have noticed there, no director has been attached, but WB needs to find the right filmmaker in order to make this work. To date, I’ve yet to see any sort of production make stretchy powers appear as being anything but ridiculous in live action, so this is a tall order indeed. Even as a diehard lover of superheroes, I admit the difficulty of suspending disbelief whenever watching a Fantastic Four flick, or whenever the Elongated Man makes use of his abilities on The CW’s The Flash.
To give a bit of backstory, Patrick “Eel” O’Brian is a criminal-turned-hero who’s amassed a cult following since his creation in 1941. For the most part, he’s been contained to the comic book medium, though he did headline an animated series of his own, The Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show, in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. Recently, some DC Nation shorts focused squarely on him, but it’s far more likely you saw him on Batman: The Brave and the Bold.
For now, Plastic Man has not been assigned any sort of release date. As always, though, we’ll keep you posted.
