We recently learned that Weapons director Zach Cregger has completed his script for a DC Comics-based tale set in Gotham City.
According to THR, the project is titled Henchman, and focuses on "a low-level henchman in the Gotham crime world who gains notoriety after managing to incapacitate Batman through a stroke of luck." The trade adds that "The Dark Knight could appear briefly in the movie, while Harley Quinn and Joker are in the project as well.
Though Cregger hasn't actually pitched the prospective movie to DC Studios (as far as we know), James Gunn and Peter Safran are said to be aware of his interest. Whether Henchman will ever get made obviously remains to be seen, but Daniel Richtman has now shared some new details on the story.
"In Gotham City, Robert Redguard, a mild-mannered pharmacist, is struggling to care for his sick son. After a wrongful arrest and a harrowing prison bus escape, Robert becomes inadvertently entangled with The Joker and Harley Quinn and becomes part of their gang. As he commits progressively darker crimes, Robert begins to lose his former identity, transforming from reluctant participant to full-blown criminal."
As many of you will be aware, the premise of a two-bit criminal taking down The Dark Knight was explored in an episode of Batman: The Animated Series titled "The Man Who Killed Batman."
Here's what Cregger had to say about Henchman in a previous interview.
"The thing I'd love to do next... I've actually written a movie that takes place in the DC Universe. Which is so not normally my thing; I'm not a superhero guy - I just couldn't stop thinking about this one story that kind of takes place in a Batman-adjacent thing. And so I wrote it, and I'm utterly obsessed with it."
Cregger didn't share any specifics on his story at the time, but during a more recent interview with Discussing Film, he described the script as the "best thing I've ever written," and addressed the likelihood of it being brought to the attention of DC Studios now that Gunn and Safran are in charge.
"If I got the call, I would drop everything and go make that movie in a heartbeat," he said. "It’s my favorite thing I’ve ever written. I love it, and I’m dying to make it. I have not talked to James Gunn in my whole life. I don’t know him but I would certainly love to meet him and have the conversation. Who knows man?"
Cregger is set to direct a new Resident Evil movie next, and also has an untitled sci-fi film in the works. So, even if Henchman is picked up by DC Studios, it'll probably be a while before it actually enters production.