Get ready for another cinematic universe filled with superheroes and super villains, because this morning Hasbro confirmed that it has assembled the writers who will be crafting its interconnected franchise of films. Those names include author Michael Chabon, graphic novel writer Brian K. Vaughan, and screenwriter Nicole Perlman.
The writers will sit down and craft a plan for the development of the HCU (too early for an acronym?), which at this point is suggested to include G.I. Joe, Micronauts, Visionaries, M.A.S.K., and ROM. But it won’t just be Chabon, Vaughan, and Perlman (who co-wrote Guardians of the Galaxy and Captain Marvel) working for Hasbro, other writers like Jeff Pinkner and Lindsey Beer have also been tapped to help out.
Here’s the full list of writers (aside from the first three):
-Lindsey Beer, who was just hired to adapt Kingkiller Chronicle for Lionsgate
-Cheo Coker, showrunner of Marvel’s Netflix show Luke Cage
-John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, the comedy writing team who penned Spider-Man: Homecoming
-Joe Robert Cole (a writer on People vs. OJ Simpson who is also writing Black Panther for Marvel)
-Jeff Pinkner, who wrote the adaptation of Stephen King’s The Dark Tower
-Nicole Riegel (writer behind the Blacklist script Dogfight)
-Geneva Robertson (one of the writers of new Tomb Raider movie project).
It seems like the headliner of the group will be Akiva Goldsman, who’s worked on Michael Bay’s Transformers films in the past. The writers will meet for the first time this upcoming Monday, where the groundwork for the franchise will be laid, along with a few concepts drawn up by Hasbro artists themselves.
If the idea of yet another cinematic universe is too much for you, at least Hasbro has its mind in the correct place behind the camera. The company’s executive vice president, Stephen Davis, mentioned that they not only wanted hard workers, but people with “diverse perspectives, diverse backgrounds and diverse experiences.” The list not only encompasses black writers, but a handful of women as well.
Davis hopes these new angles into established properties, like the male-centric G.I. Joe movies, can generate something new and different. “Female empowerment is a central theme through a lot of these properties and one of the reasons we wanted diverse voices,” the VP said. Davis didn’t confirm whether or not the old Hasbro films will be included in the new cinematic universe, or if the company is starting from scratch.
Let us know what you think about the Hasbro Cinematic Universe by dropping a comment below – we’d love to hear your thoughts!