Comic Book Casting: The DEATHBLOW Movie

Although the Wildstorm universe as we know it may be dead and buried, it its eighteen history it played home to a number of unique and evocative characters. Beneath the most popular heroes like the Wildcats, The Authority and Stormwatch, other heroes worked beneath the surface and gave us something different in comics. One of those, Deathblow, is scheduled for a return to comics in an upcoming issue of Grifter, and it brought to mind just how interesting he would be for a movie.

When Deathblow debuted in 1992, he became best known not for his story or his character but the art style co-creator Jim Lee used to draw him. Mixing his trademark style with heavy blacks and loose rendering a la Frank Miller’s Sin City, Lee’s Deathblow was overshadowed by the art style that for some readers, was hard to get past. Never a top 10 book, the inaugural series ran for 29 issues and played home to early work by Tim Sale and portrayed a different kind of gun-toting, blood-soaked hero. Much like Marvel’s Blade, I could easily imagine Deathblow as a character that seems better suited for movies rather than comics. And with the right treatment, Deathblow could make a great movie for DC Entertainment.

The Concept:

For most people, they couldn’t even tell you what the high concept of Deathblow is about. All they see is a gruff action hero with vertical red stripes under his eyes. But the character has an interesting, albeit overlooked story, that could make it prime fodder for a low budget action/horror film.

In this story, Deathblow (aka Michael Cray) is a long-serving special forces operator for the U.S. government. The elite spec ops team he was a part of was tragically killed, but Cray remained alive and served under a new military outfit, International Operations (I.O.). After years serving as their top agent, Cray is diagnosed with a brain tumor and begins to question the years of bloodshed that has become his life. Retreating into his Catholic faith, Cray is drawn into a breakaway militant branch of the church and his skills are put to use when a boy is discovered with messianic powers and is targeted by both the Order and a demonic being known as the Black Angel. Carrying a terminal cancerous tumor inside him, Cray counts down his last days by preventing what he thinks may be the last days of the human race if the boy falls into the wrong hands. Along the way he discovers the truth behind his tumor and the bigger picture of the world with him in it.

The Director:

Originally I’d pegged a hot newcomer like Gareth Evans (Raid: The Redemption) to helm this movie, but when I dug down deep I realized that what this movie needs is a complete package writer/director with some style to carry this out. Christopher McQuarrie is best known for writing movies like The Usual Suspects, but he’s been delving into directing as well with 2000’s Way of the Gun and the upcoming movie One-Shot. I think McQuarrie could really make sense of the Deathblow comics and create a humanizing and yet supernatural narrative, and then push his directorial skills to make that vision happen.

The Cast:

Deathblow – Dominic Pursell: Best known for his supporting role as Lincoln Burrows in Prison Break, since that series’ end Dominic Pursell has been pushing an agenda to become a big-time action star in a series of direct-to-DVD movies. Some people might pigeon-hole him for his part as Dracula in the lackluster third Blade movie, but I think Pursell would be a great inexpensive choice to play Michael Cray and seems to have all the potential to be a big star and this could be a breakout role.

Sister Mary – Brit Marling: Nun with a gun. For some, that could be played up to a campy conclusion taking the best (and the worst) of style from Frank Miller’s Sin City, but I’d counter-balance that by casting a certifiable actress (as opposed to ‘movie star’ or ‘celebrity’) with Another Earth’s Brit Marling. Marling has constantly been playing against type, and I’d love to see her confront a challenging role like this and make it more than the two-dimensional part it could be.

The Black Angel – Adrien Brody: Although he might look like Sandman,  he’s anything but. The Black Angel is a cast-off angel of heaven who was imprisoned on earth after an attempt to snatch Jesus Christ’s body from the crucifix and jump-start the final battle between good and evil. Adrien Brody would be a great left-field choice to play a straight-up bad guy, and I think he’s part of that elite group that wouldn’t get weighed down by the special effects and make-up surrounding him to play this role.