As much as comic book adaptations focus on DC or Marvel heroes, there are several smaller comic books that can be fodder for TV series. Per Deadline, Hulu is now ordering a pilot based on the 2014-18 Image Comics title Southern Bastards.
The pilot is helmed by director/executive producer Reinaldo Marcus Green, who directed Will Smith to an Oscar for the film King Richard. It also boasts a big-time star in TV and movie veteran Kevin Bacon. Sharing story credit is Nia DaCosta with a teleplay by Ozark scribe Bill Dubuque, with Matt Olmstead as showrunner.
Originally written by Jason Aaron with art and co-writing duties by Jason Latour (the co-creator of Spider-Gwen) Southern Bastards is set in the small town of Craw County, Alabama, where life revolves around their high school football team. Coach Euless Boss is the coach who has led the team to several state titles. Because of that success, the town turns a blind eye to Euless, who is basically the boss of a crime syndicate who has no qualms about murdering people.
The story first follows Earl Tubb, son of a legendary sheriff, who runs afoul of Euless. That leads Earl's estranged daughter, Roberta, a former Marine, to come to the town in search of answers about her past. The series was a success, including a 2016 Eisner Award for Best Continuing Series. However, it ended in 2020, before it could be completed, when allegations of misconduct effectively blackballed Latour from the industry.
According to Deadline, Bacon will play the role of Earl, with the article giving a logline that the series "follows a tenacious military vet into Craw County, Alabama, in search of her estranged father. What she finds is a murderous hornet’s nest of organized crime run by the winningest high school football coach in the South. Bacon plays Earl, the son of the legendary Sheriff Bert, who ruled Craw County with an iron fist. Earl is a tough but humble blue-collar army veteran — eager to mend fences and reconnect with his daughter and not afraid to stir the hornet’s nest that is Craw County.”
Bacon is no stranger to television, with roles in The Following, City on a Hill, The Bondsman, and more. He has experience with comic book films like X-Men: First Class and all the gravitas and skill needed to bring Earl to life for fans.
The series has been largely forgotten despite Aaron’s fame as a writer, in part due to the Latour controversy. However, it has all the ingredients for a streaming show with its dark drama, the Southern town setting, some shocking twists, and a tale of revenge. If anything, the showrunners would have more freedom crafting an ending and give fans of the comic the conclusion they never received.
This still has to reach the production stage and then film a pilot before a decision on whether the show is picked up. Still, it proves there are plenty of comic book series ripe for TV adaptations, and this may spark a new wave of such shows.