With Ready Player One, Steven Spielberg proved he can tackle big nostalgia properties for the meta age, having created most of them himself. Were we surprised? He’s Steven effing Spielberg for crying out loud. But, for all of his many achievements in the field of blockbuster spectacle entertainment, he’s never yet dipped his toe into the field of comic book movies, that genre that is all anyone can talk about or watch for the past 18 years. That changes, however, with DC Comics announced Spielberg will produce and hopes to direct a movie based on Blackhawk, a comic about a team of WWII-era fighter pilots.
Spielberg will produce with his Amblin Entertainment company working in tandem with Warner Bros. Pictures. Frequent Spielberg collaborator David Koepp will pen the screenplay. In the press release, Warner Bros. Pictures Group Chairman Toby Emmerich said, “We are so proud to be the studio behind Steven Spielberg’s latest hit, and are thrilled to be working with him again on this new action adventure. We can’t wait to see what new ground he will break in introducing Blackhawk to movie audiences worldwide.”
DC has owned the copyright on Blackhawk and all of its characters since 1957 when it bought Quality Comics (the same deal that brought Captain Marvel/Shazam! into the DC Universe), but the characters date back to 1941, making Blackhawk among the first Golden Age series, made first as U.S. military entertainment. Blackhawk has made several appearances over the years, including in Darwyn Cooke’s landmark DC: The New Frontier, and was rebooted during The New 52. The Blackhawk series also gave the DC Universe the well-known heroine, Lady Blackhawk.
Spielberg said of the announcement, “It was wonderful working with the team at Warner Bros. to bring Ready Player One to the screen. They bring a blend of passion and professionalism to everything they do and have a tremendous history in this genre. I am excited to reunite with them on Blackhawk.”
With this announcement, DC is truly swinging for the fences; Blackhawk may not be a marquee title for the publisher, but Spielberg’s name, and a setting in a heightened, semi-sci-fi version of WWII-era, is a terrific gamble. Earlier Tuesday, DC announced a new Birds of Prey movie to star Margot Robbie and with Cathy Yan as director, and recently announced Ava DuVernay would direct The New Gods.
Are you stoked to see what Spielly B can bring to Blackhawk? Let us know in the comments below!
Images: DC Comics/Warner Bros
Kyle Anderson is the Associate Editor for Nerdist and an avowed DC Comics fanboy. Follow him on Twitter!
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