Acclaimed Directors & Their Perfect Comic-Book Movie Match

Acclaimed Directors & Their Perfect Comic-Book Movie Match

Which comic characters were some of the greatest directors ever born to helm? Find out here

Editorial Opinion
By WakandasSoul - Aug 30, 2015 03:08 PM EST
Filed Under: Marvel Comics
Source: ComicBookMovie.com

Ever wanted any of the legends to take over a comic-book movie for a change? This article is for you. Before I start I'd like to point out the hypotheticals here. These nominees/selections are going by the assumption that these directors would get to 1) have full creative control and choose their own team to create the film. 2) Would or wouldn't have to work under the confides of a cinematic universe (whichever would work best for the situation)...and 3) That they would actually take the gig and take it seriously (of course). Kinda funny I feel the need to point that out considering it's hard to imagine studio execs intervening with a GOAT's work anyway. Without further ado....


 

Quentin Tarantino - "Luke Cage"



Luke Cage is a prominent, and one of the first black heroes in comics that got his start back in the 70s as "Power-Man". He gained the abilities of unbreakable/bullet-proof skin and super strength after being wrongfully imprisoned for a crime someone else did. 

Cage's popularity rose in a time where blaxploitation was the dominant wave of cinema. His character is a direct reflection of that. Tarantino is a guy who grew up loving blaxploitation films and has played around with the genre pretty well in the movies Jackie Brown and Django Unchained. A throwback style, neo-blaxplo starring Luke Cage would be an EXTREMELY fun movie. 



Other than this being a great fit for him conceptually, he would bring a hell of a lot to the table skill-wise. For one ANY Tarantino movie will indeed be highly stylized, aesthetically pleasing, with trademark QT things, which would make "Luke Cage" one of the most unique CBMs we'd ever see. Imagine with Tarantino's knack for creative action (which I feel is one of his most underrated aspects) what he could do with bullet-proof buff ass Cage. This movie would be an absolute thrill-ride from start to finish


 

Robert Rodriguez - "The Flash"



Rodriguez, like Tarantino, is a director with a very unique style. He's also a frequent collaborator of Tarantino. The guy is known for his visual style and fun..adventurous ideas.



The Flash can be a very fun character if used properly. And comedic, another aspect Rodriguez isn't foreign to. It would be pretty damn interesting to see what he'd do with The Flash visual effects on screen, looking at what he's done with other movies. He'd certainly put Flash in the wildest and most creative of scenarios. And hey, if WB ever needed or wanted to have a movie that would appeal to all audiences (including kids)...here's your guy.
 

JJ Abrams - "Green Lantern Corps"



Green Lantern Corps...the INTERGALACTIC police force of the DC universe.  

JJ as far as it comes with cinema...between the Star Trek and now Star Wars movies....basically lives in space. Tackling a GL Corps movie would essentially be a walk in the park for him, and he'd probably have a hell of a lot of fun directing it too. Tuned visually to his style, and MAINLY, the biggest contribution : his talent with crafting action sequences. And in a GL movie (which we still haven't had a good live action adaptation of) that's gold.



What would've made it even more of a perfect match is even Chris Pine were actually cast as Hal Jordan


Steven Spielberg - "Black Panther"



Black Panther, the king of Wakanda, the afrofuturistic, most technologically advanced nation of special tribal warriors. 



Look Spielberg's the man. Truth be told you could make the case for nearly any comic book character he'd be a good fit for because he's simply that great. He's probably the most complete filmmaker in history. But beyond that, BP I feel is a great character for him to handle. One of the most gritty, serious, action-packed, adventurous, and global heroes Marvel has. When you look at what Spielberg did with Saving Private Ryan (or really any of his movies) for instance, you can imagine the greatness he'd bring to a Black Panther war flick. Picture Latveria vs Wakanda in a DoomWar adaptation, directed by Spielberg.

And sure, a good amount of this pick is subjective, being that BP is my fav comic character and Spielberg one of my favorite directors ever...but I do also believe this is a perfect match for him. he's handled tribes in the Indiana Jones flicks, he's made great war movies, and so many classic adventure flicks. T'challa comes with all of this wrapped into one. 


The Coen Brothers - "Jonah Hex"




If WB for whatever wild reason ever ever decided to for whatever reboot Jonah Hex....these guys could make it make it more than worth watching. The first Jonah Hex was a complete failure critically and financially...but the Coen Brothers? These guys are amazing! Particularly with westerns (see No Country For Old Men or True Grit. 



If I had to guess which comic character they'd choose to make a movie out of...I'd say this guy



Spike Lee - "Jessica Jones'', Miles Morales



If Spike were to take on any CBM, an NY-centered, crime/detective drama would be right up his alley. Which is exactly what Jessica Jones is. Of course Spike's known for address rel="nofollow" target="_blank"ing societal issues such as racism in his movies...a modern (but subtle) take on racism today through the character of Miles Morales could potentially be something special. Of course it'll never happen, but remember....this is simply what would be a perfect match for THESE particular directors.






Martin Scorcese - "The Punisher"



The Punisher is one of the grittiest and most brutal "heroes" in all of comics. Scorcese is probably the GOAT gangster/mafia filmmaker. You add 2 and 2.







 Peter Jackson- "Thor: Ragnarok"



Peter Jackson, the king of fantasy (also the guy that doesn't know how to cut anything out of his movies lol) Jackson obviously has handled fantasy characters such as with Thor's mythos in the Lord of the Rings trilogy which was outstanding. Including the cinematography. So what would logically be the perfect CBM match for this man?



Marvel has nailed the Thor CHARACTER itself essentially down to a tee...but they have yet to develop a GREAT or even "really good" thor movie. Peter Jackson would certainly be tha man to do it. Properly.



Ridley Scott - "Martian Manhunter", "Aquaman"



Martian Manhunter is an original Justice League member and one of my favorite comic characters ever. Very weird, very obscure, but very powerful (with a sick name too). He was beamed from Mars to Earth accidentally..and eventually became a protector of it. A genre-flick starring the Manhunter could be something special.



So then when you consdier one of the best genre-transceding directors ever (Ridley Scott), there you have a match. The thing I admire most about Scott is his ability to adapt to different settings/environments, and engage the audience thoroughly in these environments. Which is why I also feel "Aquaman" would be great for him. He effortlessly shifts genres and styles almost on a Kubrick level. for example...going from the horror flick Alien to the neo-noir Blade Runner, historical drama Gladiator, and crime drama American Gangster. I'd absolutely love to see what he'd do with Atlantis



Brad Bird - S.H.I.E.L.D. SPY FLICK STARRING BLACK WIDOW, HAWKEYE, AND NICK FURY



Brad Bird is remarkable with ensembles, whether it be animation or live action. Seeing what he did with Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol : how stylistically brilliant, how sharply coordinated the action was, how FUN the movie was...all the while nailing the essentials of a spy movie, I feel he could do wonders with an MCU S.H.I.E.L.D movie starring Widow, Fury, and Hawkeye, Hill, etc. With all those cool characters that are already established and that we've come to know pretty well, the movie would be kick-ass thrilling.




Alright, that's it!!! I appreciate you reading if you stuck it out all the way through, oh and as a bonus, I'd like to ask which great director who hasn't helmed a CBM do you think would make a great match for a Justice League movie?


Let me know what you think down below, LIKE, talk shit, do what you gotta do haha. Let's talk. And again...




THANK YOU
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GhostDog
GhostDog - 8/30/2015, 3:34 PM
Tarantino and Cage?!!

GhostDog
GhostDog - 8/30/2015, 3:35 PM
Coen Brothers and Jonah Hex?!
LEVITIKUZ
LEVITIKUZ - 8/30/2015, 3:35 PM
Give than Spielberg pretty much invented the blockbuster, I would have gave him Justice League.

I thought about Avengers or X-Men or even Fantastic Four with him (though Bird would be more perfect for FF), why not give the man who knows how to make a summer blockbuster not only awesome in story, characters, and action than with JL considering how grand and epic those characters are.

Also Robert Rodriguez is pretty terrible now. My Flash pick would have be the Wachowskis.
DrKinsolving
DrKinsolving - 8/30/2015, 3:41 PM
Thumbed

These would all be really interesting to see on screen

Not sure about "The Flash" pick or Spike Lee for "Jessica Jones"

And, seeing a costumed superhero in a Scorcese film would be unbelievable. I'm sure he could nail every aspect of the Punisher but I'm not sure how much of a CBM it would end up being
LEVITIKUZ
LEVITIKUZ - 8/30/2015, 3:42 PM
You should also add David Fincher with Spider-Man since Fincher wanted to do Spider-Man.
GhostDog
GhostDog - 8/30/2015, 3:43 PM
FINCHER FOR A QUESTION FILM OR BATMAN
LEVITIKUZ
LEVITIKUZ - 8/30/2015, 3:49 PM
@WakandasSoul

You see there was this Jupiter Ascending movie earlier this year.....

LOL Yea I know now they aren't as good. Looking at their Speed Racer film, visually I've always wanted to see what they would do with Flash. Just how they did those bright race tracks and all. Visually they would have made the speed force so [frick]ing trippy.
PesciGotPepsi
PesciGotPepsi - 8/30/2015, 5:18 PM
Duncan Jones is perfect for Green Lantern Corps
PesciGotPepsi
PesciGotPepsi - 8/30/2015, 5:18 PM
Spielberg and Black Panther? PEFECT
WickedWriting
WickedWriting - 8/30/2015, 5:54 PM
You probably already know this but Marvel (at one time) wanted Tarantino to do a Heroes For Hire film (or a Luke Cage film, I forget.)

Laurence Fishburne was in mind to play Cage.

Link:

http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/MarvelFreshman/news/?a=71438
WickedWriting
WickedWriting - 8/30/2015, 6:17 PM
Or I guess not "for" Marvel but eh, he still wanted to do the film. Lol.
SteveBosell
SteveBosell - 8/30/2015, 6:27 PM
I'm not really feeling Robert Rodriguez for The Flash. Although I'm sure Fanny Trejo would make an interesting Captain Cold.
SteveBosell
SteveBosell - 8/30/2015, 6:28 PM
*Danny
kong
kong - 8/30/2015, 8:18 PM
Everything's great, except for your Flash.
No.
DukeAcureds
DukeAcureds - 8/31/2015, 2:55 AM
All great choices. All good fits.
Except for two. Martin Scorcese would have done an awesome Punisher movie, maybe 20 or 30 years ago, but he's evolved into a different kind of director, since then.
And Peter Jackson for Ragnarok? I can see the logic. Big-assed fantasy guy doing a big-assed fantasy pic'. But no thank you. Keep that self-indulgent, money-grubbing, soulless hack away from Thor: Ragnarok. Get somebody who actually cares about the film they're making.

Here's my choices for the upcoming DC projects:

The Sandman - Darren Aronofsky.

Dark Universe - Guillermo Del Toro.

The Flash - Edgar Wright.

Green Lantern - Joseph Kosinski.

Cyborg - Kathryn Bigelow.

Shazam! - Alex Proyas.

Batman - Steve McQueen.

That's the dream team, right there.

I hope they actually do get Tarantino to direct an episode of the Luke Cage Netflix show, though.
HanSoloBerger
HanSoloBerger - 8/31/2015, 9:43 PM
i definitley think David Fincher would do a great job at directing a live action Daredevil movie, anyone who has watched Se7en or gone girl knows he can do dark and gritty, plus he's already directed one Daredevil aha
SimplyAz
SimplyAz - 9/2/2015, 3:03 PM
@WakandasSoul

All good choices and well justified, with each movie they were given.

If I had to pick the most perfect one it would be the Coen Brothers and Jonah Hex, as for me No Country For Old men is one of the best modern day Westerns with a villain that made you sit on the edge of your seat.

Would love to see a continuation with Directors such as David FIncher, James Cameron,
Rian Johnnson and Duncan Jones.

Fincher is my dream choice to Direct a Terminator movie as he could bring the tension back to the Movies.
SauronsBANE
SauronsBANE - 9/2/2015, 3:04 PM
I'm really liking what I'm seeing so far!


...except for Peter Jackson for Thor. I know he did wonders with fantasy with the Lord of the Rings, but I'm fairly convinced by The Hobbit that the man has completely lost it (he caught the "George Lucas" disease). I don't want to see him anywhere near a CBM, to be honest haha.

I'll check the rest of this out when I get a chance!
SimplyAz
SimplyAz - 9/2/2015, 3:04 PM
@WakandasSoul

ALso keep up the good work and thumbs up.
kirbyfan
kirbyfan - 9/2/2015, 4:25 PM
Ridley Scott is the man for Thor, that would be the absolute perfect team!
Baka
Baka - 9/3/2015, 11:41 PM
Cool list
Deonox
Deonox - 9/4/2015, 10:24 AM
@WakandasSoul

Normally i'm usually against these kind of things like fancastings but based on the credentials you used, each director would be focusing on something thy can excl very well in. Thumbs Up!!
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