Robert Kirkman’s latest comic book to come to life, Hardcore, has found its feature film director in Godzilla vs. Kong’s Adam Wingard. Kirkman, best known as the co-creator of pop-culture hits such as The Walking Dead and Invincible, first began his career as a comic book writer in 2000. In 2003, he created Invincible for Image Comics alongside artist Corey Walker, for which the film rights were purchased by Paramount Pictures in 2005, before they ultimately reverted back to Kirkman due to a lack of progress. In addition to now being a partner in the Image Comics label, he has also written for Ultimate X-Men, Irredeemable Ant-Man and Marvel Zombies for Marvel Comics.
Having recently directed the successful Godzilla vs. Kong, Deadline reports that Wingard is set to both direct and co-write the screenplay for Hardcore, alongside Will Simmons, who has written reboots for Sleepy Hollow and Internal Affairs. Kirkman will also be serving as a producer on the film alongside Fear the Walking Dead’s David Alpert, and brothers Bryan and Sean Furst (Daybreakers). In the meantime, Amazon Studios has also recently renewed Kirkman’s Invincible for a second and third season.
In 2012, Kirkman created a one-shot, sci-fi comic, Pilot Season: Hardcore, in collaboration with fellow Image Comics partner, Marc Silvestri. Eventually, the one-shot would spawn its own five-issue continuation from 2018 to 2020. The series is based on the idea that once the “hardcore” device is shot into the back of someone’s neck, their body can then be remotely hijacked and controlled by an assassin’s brainwaves, turning potentially anyone into a human drone capable of reaching targets that normal soldiers cannot. Kirkman himself has prepared the story outline for the planned feature film adaptation.
With Wingard's impressive resume thus far and what he's already set to helm in the future (possibly continuing the MonsterVerse for Warner Bros as well as a Thundercats movie and a Face/Off sequel), Hardcore seems to be in the right hands. It will be Wingard's first time being attached to a comic book adaptation, however, so it will be interesting to see how he will bring the story to life.
Source: Deadline