Now that Sony's Harbinger has found a director, with Justin Tipping coming aboard in November, the movie has seemingly found its star - with Dylan O'Brien being eyed to play Pete Stancheck. Sony has a five-picture deal with Valiant Comics, where the Harbinger comics originated in 1992, which will begin with a Bloodshot movie starring Vin Diesel, which is set for release in 2020. That will lead into Harbinger and then Harbinger Wars, which, if O'Brien does indeed come aboard, will bring him together with Diesel's Bloodshot.

The Harbinger comics is one of the best-selling titles in the Valiant Comics catalog, having sold over 5 million copies. The story, created by Jim Shooter and David Lapham, follows a group of teenagers with incredible powers, known as Harbingers. In the comics, the Pete Stancheck character was a typical teenager when he suddenly started manifesting Harbinger powers on his own. He then comes into contact with Toyo Harada, the first Harbinger, who was also then the only Omega Harbinger (who has multiple powers that manifested on their own), until Pete Stancheck surfaced.

Related: Harbinger Planned as First Movie in Valiant Comics Film Universe

The news of O'Brien's potential casting comes from That Hashtag Show, who broke the news of Justin Tipping coming aboard to direct a few weeks ago. This new report claims Sony would like to start production on the Harbinger movie in the second half of 2019. While they cannot confirm if O'Brien has signed on or not, the 27-year-old actor is reportedly Sony's choice to play Stancheck. The story will follow Stancheck, who joins a group with similar powers to stop government forces from turning them into weapons.

Harbinger Valiant Comics

The studio is also considering a number of actors for supporting roles, playing the super-powered friends Stancheck fights alongside. Noah Centino is being eyed to play Pete's best friend, Joe Irons, with Beanie Feldstein (Lady Bird) eyed to play Faith. Director Tipping was first brought on to rewrite Harbinger with his writing partner, Joshua Beirne-Golden. Tipping made his feature directing debut Kicks in 2016 from a script he co-wrote with Beirne-Gordon, and they both also served as producers on Lowriders. Neal H. Moritz will produce Harbinger with Alexandra Milchan, Toby Jaffe, John Cheng, Jason Kothari and Dinesh Shamdasani.

While Valiant Comics and its catalog doesn't have the same name recognition as Marvel or DC, this Valiant cinematic universe gives Sony another superhero sandbox to play in. With Vin Diesel on board as Bloodshot and Dylan O'Brien eyed for the lead in Harbinger, both with a quite unique fan base, they could make for a perfect pairing in Harbinger Wars. Granted, a lot still has to happen before that team-up project can come together, including both the Bloodshot and Harbinger movies performing well enough at the box office to warrant Harbinger Wars happening. But if Sony can pull it off, they may have a successful new comic book movie universe on their hands.

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Source: That Hashtag Show