Last month Valiant announced that they had inked a 9-figure movie deal with with the Beijing based DMG Entertainment, which led to our Fancasting Valiant article. Now Valiant has announced that they are moving forward with a five movie deal with Sony Pictures to bring two of their properties, Bloodshot and Harbinger, to the big-screen.
Valiant is looking to release Bloodshot in 2017. As of right now it’s set to be directed by David Leitch and Chad Stahelski, who worked on the action-packed John Wick. Kick-Ass 2 screenwriter Jeff Wadlow will be teaming up with Eric Heisserer (who will be writing the Harbinger script as well) for the script. Overall that sounds like a veritable dream team. Wadlow has shown that he can adapt comics to film, while Leitch and Stahelski have proven they have a solid grasp on wanton violence. Both will come in handy in bringing the nanite-powered, killing machine known as Bloodshot to life.
Not a lot is known about the Harbinger film as of right now, but the plan is to have each property get two solo films which will eventually lead to the crossover event Harbinger Wars. Both of these titles are pretty dark and gritty, so be prepared for a few jaw-dropping moments scattered throughout the films.
Having read through both series and the crossover, Bloodshot and Harbinger seem like a good pair to lay the groundwork for the rest of the Valiant Universe. Bloodshot could be described as a cross between Wolverine (healing factor via nanites in the blood) and the Punisher (penchant for gratuitous violence). It will be really interesting to see how they show his transition from government controlled (via brainwashing) killer to a more just, redemptive character trying to find out who he really is.
Harbinger focuses on a group of psiots led by Peter Stanchek (psiots have different psychic powers ranging from shielding and mind-reading, to more destructive powers like pyro-kinesis and tele-kinesis) as they try to first escape from then confront one of the ultimate villains of the Valiant Universe, Toyo Harada, one of the most powerful psiots ever.
As a fan, I couldn’t be more excited. There are so many good properties to choose from that I had no idea who would be the first to the big-screen. Bloodshot, Harbinger, and the Harbinger Wars crossover were a lot of fun to read, so it will be really great to see how that translates into film.