This week brought the news that Dwayne ‘Don’t Call Him The Rock’ Johnson has been cast as the lead in a new Doc Savage movie to be directed by Iron Man 3’s Shane Black.
Though he has fallen into obscurity over the past few decades, Doc Savage is basically the original superhero and had a huge influence on the likes of Superman and Batman. A popular character from pulp fiction magazines of the 30s and 40s, Dr. Clark Savage – also known as the Man of Bronze – possessed superhuman physical and mental capabilities and was often referred to as a “superman.”
Let’s hope the Doc Savage movie is a good one, as it could reawaken an interest in pulpier superhero films. In many ways, it does make sense for the superhero movie genre to keep itself fresh by diving right back to the beginnings of superhero fiction, and so, with that in mind, here are eight other early superheroes who deserve either a rookie outing on the big screen, or a second attempt.