Robert Kirkman has had a little bit of success in the comic book world, and in converting his work there to screens, with the likes of The Walking Dead and Outcast. Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, meanwhile, saw Preacher perform last year. So you can imagine a studio, in this case, Universal, being eager to combine their efforts. Rogen and Goldberg are on to adapt Kirkman's comic book title Invincible.
The book is Kirkman's second-longest running title after the zombie apocalypse stories, and focuses on a young man named Mark Grayson, a normal high school student in almost every regard. Except that his father Nolan is Omni-Man, a superhero and successful novelist to boot. When Mark is seven, his father drops the knowledge that he's an alien, and that Mark will inherit his own set of powers. As it happens, they kick in when he's 17 and working a part-time job.
"For nearly a decade I've had to endure the 'what about Invincible?' question as fans have watched The Walking Dead grow into the multimedia monstrosity it has become over the years,' Kirkman said in a statement picked up by The Hollywood Reporter. 'The answer was always that we were waiting for the right team to partner with. That team has arrived! The esteemed misters Goldberg and Rogen have proven themselves to be top-notch directors with a keen collective eye for stunning visuals after slumming it by writing hit after juggernaut hit."
"Invincible's surprising, edgy, shocking, and oftentimes blood-soaked story couldn't be in more capable hands. With the team of Rogen, Goldberg and Universal, I'm very confident this will be another superhero movie, in a long line of superhero movies that continues to prove that it's a viable, thrilling genre that will keep people coming to the cinema for years to come."
Rogen and Goldberg plan to write, direct and produce the film alongside Kirkman, working, one assumes, from the early run (it was first published in 2003) and leaving the door open for more should it find success. As for Preacher, the show returns to screens on 25 June.