A new week, another story of a comic book getting adapted into a movie. With comic book movies proving to be big money-makers at the box office, it’s not surprising that studios want to continue tap into these potentially lucrative properties and their passionate fanbases. Image Comics’ The Strange Talent of Luther Strode is the next series to be adapted into a film by production company Allnighter, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Created by Justin Jordan and Tradd Moore, the first Luther Strode comic book mini-series ran for six issues starting in 2011. The comics centered on the titular character of Luther Strode, a teenager who ordered a get fit quick instruction manual and got more than just amazing muscles in the process. Strode transformed himself into a superhuman, was forced to do battle against fellow enhanced humans whose powers had gone to their heads, and learned that his new abilities would cost him dearly. Here’s the official synopsis:
High schooler Luther Strode was always a little bit less than average – soft-spoken, skinny, and, more than anything, terrified that his estranged father would one day return to torment him and his mother once more. But that ended the day that Luther discovered “The Method” – an improbably old text hidden between the comic books and ragged paperbacks at his favorite used bookstore. But The Method is far more than it seems – and, as its ancient techniques rework Luther’s body and unlock the strange talents buried deep within, he will find himself transformed into a near-perfect physical specimen imbued with incredible strength, startling new abilities…and a killer’s instinct for violence that he can’t quite seem to shake. When The Method’s masters arrive to observe Luther’s progress and draw him into action, he’ll be forced to make the ultimate choice: embrace the monster he was intended to be…or use his newfound power to protect the people – the classmates, the teachers, the neighbors – who never protected him when he needed them the most.
The comic book series is intensely dark and violent, but it could definitely be perfect for the large screen in an era where a series like The Boys can get away with gruesome whale murder. Jordan has the following to say on the planned adaptation:
Luther Strode remains one of my very favourite things I’ve ever worked on and getting the chance to bring it to a new audience as a film is exciting beyond belief.” Especially since Allnighter is dedicated to staying true to all of the foundations — from the tone to the mythology, and, of course, the kinetic action exemplified by Tradd’s artwork — that people have loved about the comic.
Jordan and Moore will both act as producers, with Jordan himself writing the screenplay. As for the production studio All Nighter, it’s a new studio formed by former Valiant Entertainment employees Dinesh Shamdasani, Amanda Kruse, and Hunter Gorinson.
It’s a good first project for the studio to work on, adopting a comic that already has a known fanbase while also being small enough in scale to not require a massive budget. And if they can land the right director for this and do the story justice, fans of the comics and traditional horror should definitely soak it up
Last Updated: November 2, 2020
