Fox to Adapt the Graphic Novel INCOGNITO

Movie FoxGraphic novel by Joey Paur

 

There is never ever going to be a shortage of comic books for Hollywood to adapt into films. It’s a constant flow of new and different ideas that have built in audiences, and make for fun movies. 20thCentury Fox  recently picked up the rights to a different type of story that focuses on a supervillain who tries to survive in a witness protection program after he rats out his boss.

The 6-issue comic book limited series is called Incognito, and it was written by Ed Brubaker who’s other works include The Death of Captain America, and Dardevil. He also has another graphic novel called Sleeper, which is being developed into a film at Warner Bros. The script for Incognito will be written by Robert Schenkkan, the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright of The Kentucky Cycle.

Here a description of the comic:

The comic is set in a world in which larger-than-life pulp heroes and villains have existed since the early 1800s. The original super was an escaped convict named Kenneth Lee who went by the name the Black Death. His powers came from a radioactive object which landed in New England over 200 years ago. Other notable supers include the descendants of the soldiers who were chasing him including the Doc Savage-esque "Professor Zeppelin," the Shadow-esque "Lazarus". After WWII, the SOS agency created by Zeppelin has kept most stories about the supers out of the news.

The comic deals with former science villain Zack Overkill, who is in the Witness Protection Program after giving testimony against The Black Death. Zack is required to take a drug that eliminates his super abilities and given a job delivering mail in an office.

Trying to escape the boredom of a normal life, Zack experiments with illegal drugs. It quickly becomes obvious they interfere with the power-blocking drug and he once again has his super strength. He begins wearing a mask again and searches for action in the streets and back alleys acting as a vigilante rather than a supervillain to avoid being arrested for violating his parole agreement. His actions reveal to Black Death that he is alive. Several of Black Death's soldiers attempt to kill Zack for his testimony.

During the story, Zack learns the truth about the origins of the science heroes and villains, and his own connection to Lazarus. After working with Professor Zeppelin's daughter Zoe, Zack decides to work with SOS at least until Black Death stops trying to kill him.

Deadline broke the news of this comic book deal, and they had a chance to talk to it's creator. Here's what he said about the story and character.

He’s not your typical villain and I was trying to blend the trappings of pulp, comic and noir genres. Zack was raised to be his world’s equivalent of a supervillain. We’ve all  seen the story of a good person who goes undercover and gets corrupted. This is a bad person forced to live among regular people, and how he’s affected by that. He once ran around with a mask, but now he’s got the fake name and the fake job. My goal was to have you rooting for him as he grows a conscience.

Awesome! I'm in. This sounds like a great character driven story that will make for a fantastic film. I'll definitely be looking out for this one.

Have you read the comic book? Do you think it will make for a good movie? 

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