While Regina King has been delighting audiences for years with her exceptional acting skills, 2020 was a big year for her as a director as the award-winning One Night in Miami showcased that King is an equally capable force behind the camera as in front of it. And now multi-talented performer is onto her next directorial pursuit, though this time moving away from telling a story of real-world historical figures and instead hopping to the world of comic books, with Deadline revealing she is set to direct a live-action adaptaion of Image Comics’ acclaimed Bitter Root series.
King is no stranger to the world of comic books, having recently starred in HBO’s outstanding Watchmen TV series. And now she is getting the opportunity to tell another great comic book story that continues the strong racial themes she wants to explore in her work. This conflict forms a strong part of the underlying narrative of the comic, but without taking away from its characters and action.
For those unfamiliar with the comic, Bitter Root was created by David F. Walker, Sanford Greene, and Chuck Brown in 2018. The comic series, which lasted for 24 issues, is set during the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s and follows the Sangerye Family, a once-great family of monster hunters which has been torn apart by tragedy. When an unimaginable supernatural force arrives though they are forced to put aside their differences and reunite to save the world.
Bryan Edward Hill (Ash vs the Evid Dead) is writing the script for this film, though there is no release date planned for the project yet. Considering rumours have been circling that King is one of the frontrunners to helm either DC’s “black Superman” movie or the upcoming Blade reboot from Marvel Studios, it’s likely she could have a very busy schedule in the near future and finding time to work on a project like this could be challenging. Though, overcoming challenges has been something her career has been built upon and so no doubt she would find a way to make it happen if all this work comes through.
Last Updated: May 12, 2021
