About a year ago, few people knew the name Tim Miller unless they were deeply entrenched in the world of movie special effects. Now, though, Miller is the man behind the current #1 movie of 2016 in Deadpool, the modestly budgeted superhero raunch-fest that surprisingly took the world by storm in February. That was Miller’s directorial debut and we can only assume that his name’s been added to the list of action movie directors to watch for the next few years. Everybody loves an underdog, after all. But now a new interview reveals that Miller was being eyed to helm another down-and-dirty comics character a few years back.
In an interview with HitFix, Miller shared that he’d spoken to DC Comics about directing a movie based on their foul-mouthed intergalactic bounty hunter, Lobo, close to 3 years ago. Back then, though, the idea of an R-rated superhero movie that wasn’t a niche title was not on any major studio’s mind. “I think it’s something that filmmakers and sometimes the studios want to do [R-rated superhero movies],” Miller said. “They just haven’t seen that they can actually make money. And ultimately they gotta make money. So I don’t blame them for being concerned about it.”
The success of Deadpool has opened the doors wide and with gusto to the idea of mainstream heroes getting R-rated films, including the possibility that both Wolverine 3 and X-Force could be for mature audiences. However, Miller doesn’t think Deadpool‘s success has led to everything being upped in rating, specifically Warner Bros’ Suicide Squad which just underwent reshoots that were, reportedly, to make the film funnier. “I don’t think Suicide Squad did reshoots to be more like Deadpool,” he says. “I think they were just adding some additional material.”
As far as a Lobo is concerned, the project was bandied about as far back as 2009 with Guy Ritchie initially being touted as the director. In 2012, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson had signed on to star, but the project has since fallen into development hell. Whether Miller got to direct the movie or not, his success with Deadpool, and more importantly doing justice to the darker comics characters, might well lead one day to the proper, brutal space biker movie we’ve been waiting for.
Who would you like to see direct a possible Lobo movie? What other pitch-dark characters should get a movie? Let us know in the comments below!
And relive all the merc-mouthed glory from the internet’s favorite Deadpool memes
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HT: Comic Book Resources
Image: DC Comics
Kyle Anderson is the Associate Editor for Nerdist. He sure does love movies, why not talk to him about them? Follow him on Twitter!
