If you watched a strange yet badass action movie in the last few years, odds are it was adapted from a comic written by Mark Millar. His works have gone on to inspire films such as Wanted, Kick-Ass, and even Kingsman: The Secret Service. From the success of these adapted works, Superior is now being put into production by Fox with Matthew Vaughn, who produced both Kick-Ass and Kingsman. What’s especially interesting about Superior is that Millar has a specific idea regarding who will star as the titular protagonist.
For those unfamiliar with Millar’s work, he wrote the seven-issue mini-series Superior back in 2010. The story is centered around Simon Pooni, a good looking basketball star whose world is changed by multiple sclerosis, making him a rightfully bitter 12-year-old boy. Despite this, Simon is a young kid who idolizes superheroes, specifically one very much like Superman. One evening, in typical comic book fashion, an alien monkey appears before Simon, giving him one wish. With his love of heroes in mind, Simon wishes to have the same powers as his favorite hero and becomes Superior!
Ideally, the film will follow the same story structure and build upon the themes found in the series, but Millar is presently more concerned with who will be cast as the hero, Superior.
In a recent tweet, Millar stated, “Just watched @amyschumer‘s Trainwreck & it’s my fave comedy in YEARS. @JohnCena so funny in it I literally just requested him for SUPERIOR.”
He elaborated on the tweet — in more than 40 characters — on his message board, stating, “‘Train-Wreck’ […] was stolen by John Cena, who’s comic timing was so immense and his look so bang-on that I literally requested him for Superior before I’d even watched the end of the DVD.”Â
While that may seem like an extreme reaction, when it comes to Mark Millar, this writer trusts his judgment. If the man who created and wrote Superior sees John Cena in the role, then we, the readers and future movie-goers, may have to as well. After all, Cena is not the worst wrestler to attempt movie stardom.
In Cena’s case, Trainwreck was definitely a step in the right direction for a career as an actor. As long as Mark Millar is at the helm and guiding Cena through the film, it should, more than likely, work out well. No matter what, it will never be as bad as Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson playing the Tooth Fairy.
Let us know in the comments what you think of Mark Millar’s request to cast John Cena in the upcoming Superior film! Are you all for it, or should wrestlers stay out of movies?
