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Oh,
Sure, Laugh At The Title...
You Won't Be Giggling When You Burn At Man-Thing's
Touch!
Artisan
Entertainment and Marvel Studios have announced today that
filming has wrapped up in Australia on Man-Thing, and
they plan to bring it to theaters on August 27, 2004. Directed
by Brett Leonard from a script by Hans Rodionoff (who also
has a Werewolf-By-Night adaptation floating around),
the film stars Australian actor Jack Thompson, Rawiri Paratene
from Whale Rider, and a cast of unknowns.
Created
by Marv Wolfman for Marvel in 1971, in the comics Man-Thing
was once Ted Sallis, a scientist working to recreate the super-soldier
formula that birthed Captain America. When enemy agents attempted
to kidnap him, a wounded Sallis injected himself with his
prototype formula, then crashed in a section of the Florida
Everglades.
The formula
and the swamp combined to turn him into a shambling vegetable
that responds purely empathically, as Sallis' brain cells
scattered across his entire body. Aside from being huge and
gross, Man-Thing also has the curious side ability to burn
anything that feels fear, hence the catch-phrase "whatsoever
knows fear burns at the Man-Thing's touch." By the way,
guys, it's a surprisingly ineffective pick-up line.
Not only
does this production mean that we get three Marvel movies
next summer (Spider-Man 2, The Punisher, and now this),
but it also marks the second adaptation out of Artisan. A
few years ago, the small studio snapped up the rights to fifteen
Marvel properties, and while a previously announced Iron Fist
seems to have stalled, it looks like they're finally on a
roll.
Notice,
however, that the poster art does not mention Artisan. It's
only notable because there's a rumor that Avi Arad would love
for Marvel to buy the company outright, fully legitimizing
the existence of "Marvel Studios."
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But will
it be a Giant Sized Man-Thing?
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