ARCHER & ARMSTRONG Movie In Development

Valiant's Archer & Armstrong has a modest but very, very loyal following. Could a big screen adaptation be just the trick to setup the Jim Shooter, BWS and Bob Layton created characters for mainstream success?

By MarkJulian - Jul 11, 2014 09:07 AM EST

Filed Under: Comics

Archer & Armstrong is a Valaint Comics title first published in July 1992, and were created by Jim Shooter, Barry Windsor-Smith and Bob Layton. The series follows Obadiah Archer, a youth whose near-death experience and training from Buddhist monks in the Himalayas has imparted upon him exceptional martial arts skills. The series' other protagonist is Armstrong, who meets Archer through a chance encounter that leads to a series of rapidly escalating adventures. If you're a fan or the outline piques your interest, you'll be pleased to know that according to AICN, there's a live-action, motion picture in development, based on the recent run on the series from Fred Van Lente and Clayton Henry.

Said to also appear in the film are the One Percent, the Eternal Warrior and host of other Valiant characters. There are quite a few other Valiant titles in the works as well, including a Shadowman feature currently being written by J. Michael Straczynski and a Bloodshot feature film penned by Jeff Wadlow.

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20 Comments

Pasto - 7/11/2014, 9:09 AM

Finally, a Hawkeye solo film.

SuperCat - 7/11/2014, 9:11 AM

Not familiar with this comic.

blackandyellow - 7/11/2014, 9:11 AM

I've always heard good things about this but never read it.

SuperCat - 7/11/2014, 9:17 AM

kong - 7/11/2014, 9:18 AM

This sounds cool.

UltimaRex - 7/11/2014, 9:19 AM

Before anyone starts the "this is coming before that" thing...

1986

2012

It's STILL not a race...

Dedpool - 7/11/2014, 9:28 AM

Archer & Armstrong is easily the most accessible of the Valiant titles if you're trying to make a movie. Hopefully this will lead to an Eternal Warrior flick (Armstrong's immortal brother, Armstrong is immortal too), and I'd love a Shadowman flick. And if they want to go goofy, and over the top they have Quantum and Woody. Now that I think about it, with the Valiant reboot doing so well why haven't MORE of their properties been snatched up. They have some good titles.

AsgardianHobo - 7/11/2014, 9:30 AM

When I first glanced at the headline, I thought it was this Archer

BoomTubeB - 7/11/2014, 10:40 AM

Read a few books but never could into the valiant universe ! I remember magnus robot fighter wore a skirt & Bloodshot was lame! the art wasn't all that great either ! Valiant was the hipster comics in the 90s!

DIrishB - 7/11/2014, 11:13 AM

I never read much of the original Valiant books back in the early 90's, but I've been buying, reading, and overall really enjoying the rebooted Valiant universe (VEI) that started in 2012.

Archer & Armstrong is my personal favorite, and is brilliantly written. Great blend of action/adventure, humor, and conspiracy theory aspects. It's fertile ground to make a really interesting, enjoyable, and original film.

Harbinger is also a fantastic title in the new Valiant universe.

Other Valiant titles like X-O Manowar, Bloodshot, Eternal Warrior, Rai, Shadowman, Unity, etc are all worth a read, as they offer a variety of different genres and character archtypes all set in the same continuity.

The original Valiant universe of the 1990's has a very loyal fanbase, but I recommend checking out the rebooted universe, as it doesn't feel dated and all around is very smartly written, with a lot of great artwork (anything Cary Nord draws like X-O Manowar and Clayton Crain's excellent painted art on Rai).

LEOSTRATOR - 7/11/2014, 12:01 PM

Love the old Valiant comics and liking the new Archer and Armstrong books. Quantum and Woody is good also.

sameoldthing - 7/11/2014, 3:12 PM

I like when other properties from comics that are not mainstream get the film treatment.

mgeoff88 - 7/11/2014, 4:33 PM

This is the first time I've heard of this comic. It sounds like it could be pretty cool as a movie.

Liverpool4life - 7/11/2014, 7:41 PM

Jim Shooter did some great things at Valiant. Unfortunately, the corporate hacks that helped Shooter get Valiant started forced him out.

DirtbagSailor - 7/12/2014, 7:02 PM

A well-made ARCHER & ARMSTRONG movie has HUGE potential to be a surprise hit. I've been reading / collecting comics for 25+ years and each month when the next issue easily the highlight of each month. I REALLY hope this film gets made.

Phoenix8008 - 7/13/2014, 7:39 AM

I loved most of the Valiant titles of the 90's, but never got into Archer & Armstrong back then. The new VEI reboot of the Valiant universe has been fantastic though, and Archer & Armstrong is one of their most consistenly excellent books! This would make a great movie I think, even though I would have expected them to lead with something like Bloodshot first. I believe Bloodshot is optioned out to Sony right now, and there's supposed to be a script as well for Shadowman, but no word on rights optioned out to a studio. I look forward to more Valiant movie news!

ARCHER & ARMSTRONG Movie In Development

Valiant's Archer & Armstrong has a modest but very, very loyal following. Could a big screen adaptation be just the trick to setup the Jim Shooter, BWS and Bob Layton created characters for mainstream success?

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