Viper Comics has sold the film rights to Villains to Universal Pictures in a deal in the mid-six figure range.
The graphic novel, by Adam Cogan and Ryan Cody, puts super bad guys center stage. The plot, told from the baddies’ perspective, follows a young man who is failing at life and finds purpose when he meets a Svengali-style villain who takes him under his wing.
Universal has hired Matt Jennison and Brent Strickland to pen the adaptation, with Viper’s Jessie Garza co-producing. Jennison and Strickland are the duo behind Wonder Woman for Warner Bros.
I’ve not read the title, but checking out the preview (after the jump), I can instantly tell I like the art style and color scheme,. As far as the duo writing the adaptation goes, Jennison and Strickland have not had their Wonder Woman script move into production, and no one has sent me any leaked scripts (hint, hint), so I have no idea how they’ll approach the title.
Villains
Nick Corrigan is an aimless 20-something who discovers that his aging neighbor used to be the notorious supervillain known as “Hardliner”, now retired and living in hiding for the past few decades. Rather than turn him in to the authorities, Nick decides to blackmail him in exchange for lessons in the fine art of career super-crime. But the old pro is about to teach his student some lessons he’ll never forget.