In a few weeks time, director Brad Peyton will be reteaming with his Journey 2: The Mysterious Island star Dwayne Johnson for San Andreas, which will see “The Rock” trying to survive some devastating destruction. Had Peyton had his way though, this sophomore team-up would have happened years ago and it would have been Johnson causing the devastating destruction, probably right in the faces of a few well-known superheroes, as they were set to bring fan-favourite DC Comics antihero Lobo to life on the big screen. And then nothing happened.
Speaking to ComingSoon.net, Peyton has finally dished on just why the film has seemingly just been sitting on the shelf at Warner Bros ever since, despite the fact that they already had a screenplay for the movie ready to go.
“I think what’s happening with DC is that they have prioritized what they need to make first in order to kind of lay the foundations for the DC Universe. This is what I believe is happening just from what they’ve been taking about. They’re talking about ‘Justice League,’ ‘Batman v Superman,’ and going into ‘Flash,’ ‘Wonder Woman,’ and ‘Aquaman.’ Those are kind of the pillars of that universe.”
“I was really happy with the script, [though]. I talked with Dwayne about it. Joel Silver and I had a really amazing meeting about it. I did a rewrite of the script and was really, really excited for it. In their estimation, though, he wasn’t one of those main guys… That’s fair enough. I think that, to do any kind of comic book universe correctly, you do need to establish, ‘Here’s the tone. Here’s the main people.’ Then we can grow offshoots from there. With Marvel, they’re now doing smaller characters like ‘Ant-Man’ and ‘Guardians of the Galaxy.’ They obviously had to start, though, with their big guns and set up ‘The Avengers.’ I kind of feel like that’s where DC is now. They’re setting that team up.”
As a practically immortal, super strong alien bounty hunter with very little morals and way too much beer, Lobo is not exactly the type of family friendly fare that rubs shoulders with Superman (rubbing his boot heel on Superman’s neck though, that’s something that he’s done several times). The last of the Czarnian race (he killed his entire planet as part of his high school science project), Lobo rides around space on a tricked-out rocket-bike, decked out in leathers and chains, insulting practically every “fragging bastich” he comes across.
Lobo is basically a parody of the excess found in 90’s comic books, and his cosmic-based stories have always erred on the side of the ridiculous (a toy company hired him to take out Santa Claus, which he did after a bloody knife fight with ol’ Father Christmas), so it stands to reason that the studio may find him a hardsell to mainstream audiences. Well, that would be the case if Marvel hadn’t just proven that cosmic ridiculousness can actually work really well with Guardians of the Galaxy, something that Peyton is acutely aware of.
“It’s one of those things where, creatively, you and I get it, but there’s a lot of people that don’t quite get that. It’s a real uphill battle to talk people into spending a lot of money to do things correctly.”
Peyton is optimistic though that that uphill battle will eventually be won and that a Lobo movie will see the light of day, even though Johnson (who was perfectly cast as Lobo) has been taken completely out of the running as he has already been cast to play another antihero, Black Adam, in a different Warner Bros\DC Comics movie, Shazam.
“I think there’s going to be a really amazing time for ‘Lobo’ and I think people are going to realize, certainly once they revisit it, what they’re sitting on. But you never know. I’m really happy with the project and where we got it and fingers crossed it comes to fruition at some point.”
Do you still want to see a Lobo movie, and if so, do you think Peyton should still direct it? Who would you even pick to replace Johnson? I always thought Danny Trejo could make an awesome Lobo (just think of all the money they would save on makeup and post-production CG effects for the character!) but he’s probably too old for the role. I’ve heard some fan casting over the years call for Kevin Durand, Joel Edgerton and Jeffrey Dean Morgan, all of which are solid picks. Any other suggestions?
PS: If any of you even mention this new skinny Lobo from the New 52, I will cut you, you fragging bastiches!
Last Updated: May 20, 2015
Blood Emperor Trevor
May 20, 2015 at 09:39
Tobey Maguire as skinny Lobo!
The Sten
May 20, 2015 at 09:47
If the reception to Deadpool is good then i think we could be seeing this sooner rather than later.
James Francis
May 20, 2015 at 11:52
Why? Not even the same stable…
The Sten
May 20, 2015 at 16:11
They are both over the top parodies of their respective universes arent they?
James Francis
May 20, 2015 at 11:57
This whole ‘bigger picture’ thing is annoying. Just look a the new Avengers – most of it is simply stacking the chips for future franchises. Now Lobo, which is one of the best candidates for a movie, has been sidelined for the same reasons.
The comic industry is reminding me of Nintendo – bordering on bankruptcy, then it found a way to make a lot of money and proceeded to milk that to death but without really thinking long-term. Marvel and DC are doing the same: suck their franchises dry in as many multi-format deals as they can get, but with no real sense for the finer qualities of what they own. They are exchanging financial bankruptcy for creative bankruptcy.
It smacks a little of when Disney got rid of all its animation desks because 3D animations were making so much money. Total corporate-thinking.
In ten years all of this crap will be rebooted again – if not sooner – because they pretty much bled the golden goose dry.
If they had any sense, Lobo would be in development right now.