Gary Whitta is the envy of every aspiring sci-fi fan-fic scribbler. He’s already got one massive item ticked from his bucket list: he’s writing a stand-alone Star Wars film. If that weren’t enough to get your fists raised to the sky while shouting “Why not me?! My Han-Chewy fan-fic received SO many comments!” – he’s just bagged another sweet gig. Whitta has signed on to write the adaptation of Mark Millar’s Starlight for Fox.
The comic by Millar follows a space hero with one of the best names ever – Duke McQueen – who at one time saved the universe from impending doom. Before returning to Earth of course. After years of no-one buying into stories of his crazy antics, he decides to get stuck into the nitty gritty of ‘normality’ and he gets married and has a bunch of kids. Having resigned himself to an Earthbound existence, he gets a call and, according to Millar: “that old, sparky, Buster Crabbe-era rocket ship comes back and needs him for one last adventure.”
A new comic series, the first issue only hit shelves in March. But that’s not the intriguing part – X-Men scribe Simon Kinberg snapped up the rights way back in December and is still on board to produce. This will be his second collaboration with Millar, their first being Kindergarten Heroes, which is one in a long line of the comic scribbler’s adaptations. He’s seen enormous success with Wanted, Kick-Ass and the upcoming Colin Firth-starrer, Kingsman: The Secret Service, so hopefully this one will follow suit.
More news on Starlight as it’s announced. For now though, let us know, what do you think of Whitta tackling this comic?