Following the booming success of Weapons, it’s hardly a surprise that all eyes are on director Zach Cregger for whatever he has lined up next. After creating his own horrifying world of estranged aunts and kids running like Naruto at stupid o’clock in the morning, he’s now headed to Raccoon City for his untitled Resident Evil adaptation, which won’t mirror the games but will seemingly be a love letter to them. There is one dream project, however, that’s going to stay just that, according to the director, and it’s set in the DC universe.
A while back, it was reported that Cregger had penned a script called “Henchman” that followed a titular low-level thug in Gotham City, who draws the wrong kind of attention after taking down Batman. Cregger had already revealed that a lot of the comic book movie-related hubbub had been “blown out of proportion,” and now he’s provided even more of a disappointing update. In an interview with Screen Rant, Cregger explained that he still has love for his DC-based tale, but it will be tucked away until the time is right.
“I love the script. I still love that script, but that IP, that Gotham City IP is the most coveted thing. And right now, there's a lot of people that have their own kind of flavor. You've got Matt Reeves and what he's doing with it, and you've got James Gunn and his DC universe – there's just all this stuff. It is a very kind of crowded playing field, and my movie, I don't think it really fits into any of that. And so it's fine. I have no problem with the state of things with DC.”
Of course, at this point, visiting different iterations of well-known characters and locations isn’t anything new or the DC universe, which has dared to dabble in the kind of territory that Marvel Studios has yet to venture into on the big screen. Besides having two Caped Crusaders in the not-too-distant future, we’ve also had two movies based on Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker, and will be getting a Clayface movie that may or may not be caught in the shadow of the bat. Either way, it’s clear that audiences are hungry for DC stories, whether it’s connected to the cinematic universe Gunn is creating or not. For now, though, that’s a path Cregger isn’t willing to take just yet, despite the recent attention his script has garnered.
“It's great, but I understand the hurdles that would be in front of me if I tried to get that movie going next. And so what I think I'm going to do is – I haven't shared it with James Gunn or anyone over there – It's just one day when the time is right, I'm just going to leave it to the universe and that door will open and I'll happily step through it, but I don't think it's going to be this year or next year or probably the year after.” For now, we’ll just have to settle for the bajillion other DC-related shows and movies headed our way that won’t include a henchman that got off lucky. To read all about them, head here.
