Movie Update: The Silver Surfer spinoff

Click here for the L.A. Times article

Well, can't say this was totally unexpected. They WERE talking about making a Surfer movie even before the first Fantastic Four movie came out (if I remember correctly, The Rock was being mentioned as the star). In any case, with the Surfer being CGI now, this should be on the fast track if anything, even though the FF sequel hasn't even premiered in the U.S. yet.

Side note #1: It already has premiered in the Philippines though, and have heard 2 positive reviews of it from 2 people who saw it. Not to say that I don't trust their opinions, but movies based on comic books I am fairly familiar with are near and dear to my heart, so I have a feeling I'll be a bit tougher on this than they were.

But I digress. I think I've mentioned in the past that the Surfer is one of my favorite comic book characters so needless to say this pleases me. And another reason I am pleased is that they hired quite the writer for it: J. Michael Straczynski.

JMS, as he is often referred to by fans, was the creator and driving force behind Babylon 5, which was groundbreaking in a lot of ways (click on the Wiki link if you're unfamiliar with it, it really was something else). He is also writing the screenplay for the adaptation of World War Z, and has had tons of comic book projects - most notably Rising Stars (or as some like to call it, the "original Heroes").

According to the article, they will take a more serious approach to the Surfer character in his spinoff, which is great because it would be in line with the comic book character. And if anybody can write a space based drama, it would be JMS.

Only problem with the Surfer as a character (and Superman suffers from this same problem), is that he's just too powerful. The man basically has the power to do anything he wants. So coming up with a compelling storyline and conflict for him has always been an issue.

Side note #2: anything we can do about Larry Fishburne being the voice of the Surfer? I have nothing against him really. But I never, in my mind's eye, ever pictured the Surfer as being baritone. So yes, it's my own personal issue, but whatever.

Still, looking forward to this!