Comic book writer Mark Millar knew he had a great concept when he came up with his character Nemesis. It was so good that it was optioned for a film by 20th Century Fox before the limited series was even finished. Tony Scott was set to direct the big screen adaptation of “Nemesis” in association with his Scott Free production company. Apparently, things never got underway with Scott, but instead moved into the capable hands of writer/director Joe Carnahan and brother Matthew Michael Carnahan .
After rumors surfaced about the “Nemesis” film being killed off by 20th Century Fox, Millar did an interviewwith website Comic Book Resources to clear up any misinformation.
“Joe Carnahan, is coming over here to Scotland in a couple of weeks so we can really get our teeth into the ‘Nemesis’ movie, which is very exciting as I’m a huge fan of his stuff. There’s been misreports online, as Joe tried to say, that the deal got killed at Fox, but this is nonsense as we only finished the paperwork and got paid about 12 weeks ago.”
Millar has a history of taking his time with most of his projects, as can be seen with his other books like “Kick-Ass,” “Wanted,” and “War Heroes.” Both “Kick-Ass” and “Wanted” spanned over two years to finish. “War Heroes” was begun in August of 2008 and was announced as being six issues long. As of now, only three issues of the series have been published. “War Heroes” was optioned by Sony and Michael DeLuca in September of 2008 but nothing ever came of that.
There’s been all kinds of rumors floating around about the film version of “Nemesis” ever since it was announced. One reliable source stated that Joe Carnahan’s brother, Matthew Michael Carnahan, was single-handedly writing the screenplay. Another had Johnny Depp and Brad Pitt starring in the movie.
“Nemesis” is a rather ingenious idea for a comic series. Instead of focusing on the good guy as the main character of the story, Millar’s book focused on the villain. It begged the question, “What if the smartest, toughest costumed [character] in the world was totally evil?” Matt Anderson takes on the alter ego Nemesis after promising his dying mother he will take revenge on the police officer that put his father in prison, causing him to commit suicide.
Anderson is apparently taking up in his father’s footsteps, as he was imprisoned for hunting teenage runaways for sport with his wealthy friends. After traveling the world to train for a life of crime, Nemesis goes to Tokyo, blows up a building, and wreaks more murderous havoc. He then makes his way to Washington, D.C. and hijacks Air Force One. He takes the president hostage and kills hundreds when he crashes the plane. Everything continues to go downhill for people who get in the way of the supervillain and his diabolical plans.
The concept of “Nemesis” will make a great film. It’s an interesting and twisted idea that will be entertaining to explore. The idea of “sympathizing” with the villain of the story versus the hero is something unique. I think moviegoers would be drawn to the film and it would appeal to comic book fans which not only made “Nemesis” popular but the “Superman: The Black Ring” graphic novel which highlights Lex Luthor in much the same way.
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Eric Shirey is the founder and former editor of Rondo Award nominated movie news websites MovieGeekFeed.com and TheSpectralRealm.com. His work has been featured on Yahoo!, DC Comics, StarWars.com, and other entertainment websites. Eric has interviewed and worked with actors like Harrison Ford, Brooke Shields, Gerard Butler, Brendan Fraser, Selena Gomez, and many more.
