Last August, an animated short film from Bron Studios premiered at the computer graphics conference SIGGRAPH, and caught the attention of Gary Sanchez Productions heads Adam McKay, Will Ferrell, and Chris Henchy. The short, titled Henchmen: Ill Suited, told the tale of a dreamy janitor working in a supervillain museum who winds up inside of a dangerous super suit. Not much has been heard of it since SIGGRAPH, but now we’ve received word that a feature film adaptation is officially moving forward and already has a talented group of actors all set to lend their voices.
Several of the actors already have a history of comic book-inspired properties, like X-Men alum James Marsden, Daredevil and Sin City actress Rosario Dawson, Spider-Man 2‘s Alfred Molina and Nathan Fillion, who’s voiced Hal Jordan/Green Lantern in several animated DC films. Joining them are Silicon Valley‘s Thomas Middleditch, who will lead the film as Lester, a blue-collar worker who joins the Union of Evil.
Lester joins a crew of henchmen that include 30 Rock actress Jane Krakowski, 21 Jump Street‘s Rob Riggle, The Office alum Craig Robinson and comedian Will Sasso. Together, they guard the Vault of Villainy, where Lester accidentally steals the ultimate weapon and must be saved by Marsden’s “fallen henchmen.”
Interestingly, the new report does not cite McKay, Ferrell or Henchy, meaning they could have left the project at some point since its initial announcement. Adam Wood, the director of the original Henchmen short, is still in line to helm the feature, while Bron Studios and CW Media Finance will handle producing duties.
We’ll keep you updated on more Henchmen news as the project moves forward. In the meantime, let us know how you feel about this new film and its cast in the comments below.