‘Doc Savage’ film adaptation by Shane Black will star Dwayne Johnson
Another comic book adaptation is in the works as Shane Black will be helming the big-screen adaptation of the 1930s and 40s pulp novel hero aka The Man of Bronze: Doc Savage. Dwayne Johnson is now attached as the lead star and took to Instagram with confirmation.
“It’s OFFICIAL: For all comic book fans you already know the world’s first superhero (pre-dating Superman) is the ‘Man of Bronze’ himself Clark ‘Doc’ Savage.
“Want to thank my bud director/writer Shane Black and his writing team Anthony Bagarozzi and Chuck Mondry for flying in from LA and sitting with me and our @sevenbucksprod’s producer @hhgarcia41 on this Memorial Day weekend to chop up creative and break story on this very cool project.”
For Johnson, he’s excited to become Doc Savage is, “He’s a F***ing Hilarious Weirdo!”
Black was signed by Sony to co-write and direct Doc Savage back in 2013.
Black is coming off of The Nice Guys with Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling which is currently in release following its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. Then Black is working on The Predator lined up at Fox for a February 2018 release.
Johnson is up next in Central Intelligence with Kevin Hart, set to hit screens June 17. He follows that up with Disney’s animated Moana on November 23, and returns as Hobbs in Fast 8 next April, followed by the Baywatch adaptation in May, 2017.
First debuting in 1933, Savage, otherwise known as Clark Savage, Jr., was inspired by (and created to be a semi-combination of) notable literary and pulp heroes such as Sherlock Holmes and Tarzan. He was trained from early childhood to be at peak physical condition and is blessed with genius level intellect and an eidetic memory, abilities he uses to right wrongs and correct injustice wherever he happens to encounter them.
Along with characters like The Shadow (1930), Dick Tracy (1931), Conan the Barbarian (1932), The Lone Ranger and Tonto (1933), and Green Hornet and Kato (1936), Doc Savage was part of the later pulp genre that directly inspired the comic book superhero genre which emerged in the late 1930s.