Anna Daniels
Brian K. Vaughan is a respected comic book writer who has dabbled in both Marvel Comics and DC Comics, and even Image Comics and Dark Horse Comics. But he’s also written, produced, and worked as a story editor on ABC’s series Lost and a couple episodes of Marvel’s Runaways on Hulu. A series adaptation of his comic Y: The Last Man is also in development. Now his work is poised to make a transition to the big screen, and he’ll be producing it.
Legendary Entertainment is adapting Brian K. Vaughan’s sci-fi comic book Ex Machina, but in order to avoid confusion with the A24 movie of the same name, it will be called The Great Machine. So what is this comic about?
Here’s the official synopsis of the comic, published from 2004 through 2010, from the Amazon listing for the omnibus:
When a strange accident gives civil engineer Mitchell Hundred the amazing ability to control machinery, he uses his newfound powers to become the world’s first living, breathing superhero. But the thrill of risking his life simply to help maintain the status quo eventually wears thin, leading Mitch to retire from masked crime-fighting in order to run for Mayor of New York City–an election he wins by a landslide.
And that’s when the real weirdness begins.
Before it’s over, the lives of Mayor Hundred and everyone around him will be turned upside down and inside out–and the very fate of humanity will turn on his actions. Will the man who stopped the second plane on 9/11 be able to resist the incalculably greater threat now looming on the horizon? Or will he prove to be the ultimate example of the corrupting nature of power?
The new title of The Great Machine comes from the main character’s superhero name. And the movie itself may not directly follow the plot of the comics since the trade says the plot revolves around the superhero mayor dealing with a threatened political career when the source of his powers returns to claim its debt. But we’re not entirely sure what writers Anna Waterhouse and Joe Shrapnel, fresh off the Kristen Stewart movie Seberg, have in store for the adaptation.
The Hollywood Reporter says the adaptation of the comic has been in the works since 2005, around the time it got popular. New Line Cinema had picked up the rights and developed the movie through 2012, but the rights reverted back to Brian K. Vaughan artist Tony Harris. But Cale Boyter, who was working at New Line during that time, joined Legendary Entertainment in 2016 and never lost passion for adapting the project. And he was able to get Vaughan into their fold to develop an adaptation yet again.
Since this project has been in the works for so long, we’ll have to wait and see if it actually makes it to the big screen this time.
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