Ava DuVernay wants New Gods movie to be perfect
According to New Gods co-writer Tom King, director Ava DuVernay is doing everything she can to make sure the film is the best it can be.
Over three years now, we’ve known that Ava DuVernay is directing the New Gods film for Warner Bros. This will be a new installment in the DCEU based on Jack Kirby’s creation from the 1970s. From the beginning, people have been skeptical of DuVernay tackling such a project, when they should not be. Recently, at a San Diego Comic-Con panel, writer Tom King responded to requests for an update on the project:
"“I mean, how do you answer that question right? Because everybody knows what I’m going to say. But I’m going to say it anyway: it’s a fucking joy! She’s amazing! I was doing another thing where I was doing a big Hollywood [project], working with big famous Hollywood people, and it wasn’t such a joy. Like there was egos and shit involved. She doesn’t have an ego, she just gets in there.”"
The fact Ava appointed a comic book writer to pen the script is a big deal. Can you remember the last time a comic book writer wrote a big Hollywood comic-book movie script? Now some are not fond of Tom King’s Batman run, feeling it is the weakest Batman run to date. Disapproval may also stem from the handling of the wedding of Batman and Catwoman, as well. However, Tom King has shown worthiness at Marvel with Vision and with his limited Mister Miracle run for DC Rebirth. His Mister Miracle series pushed nearly half a million comic books. This past February, the trade paperback collection was the number-one seller. Adding more about Ava DuVernay, he continues:
"“She invited me out, and she asked what team I wanted to bring. Because she wanted to assemble people who knew Kirby, and she was like, ‘Can you put together a team?’ So we put together this team. And she was smart, and a good storyteller, and it was one of the best storytelling experiences I’ve ever had. And next week I go off to work with her.”"
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Say what now? Ava wants a team of Jack Kirby experts? Yes, you heard that right. Now, the director herself is a self-admitted Jack Kirby fan, but the fact that she wants a team of know-hows behind her shows both humility and the strive to get this movie right. Asking Tom King, who wrote up a great Mister Miracle, is already a great start. This flies in the face of director Bryan Singer, who is not too credible on the source material or intrigued enough to learn it. Watch other pieces of hers like 13th and When They See Us, projects like that take a lot of research and advice from experts; hence her film is certainly no cash grab.
Yes, Jack Kirby gave us Iron Man, Thor, Fantastic Four and most of the Marvel Universe. Nonetheless, the New Gods and the Fourth World are truly his world, built from the ground up by him with no aid from Stan Lee. Sure, his New Gods are taken out of the closet and played with from time to time, but nothing like other DC properties or other Jack Kirby creations in general. It is okay if you did not read Bill Finger’s Batman but, if you read Grant Morrison’s or Frank Miller’s, then you’re fine. The opposite is true of Kirby’s New Gods, you have to start from the beginning.
Sweaty comic book nerds, especially Jack Kirby enthusiasts, should take this as a huge blessing. Even if you do not care for Ava DuVernay or Tom King, take heart knowing they both want to do Jack Kirby and his New Gods justice.