Mark Millar and Steve McNiven’s 2010 comic series, Nemesis, was an interesting idea, if not completely original. A twist on the Batman mythos, it boiled down to “what if Batman was the villain?” Uber-wealthy Matt Anderson dons a costume and goes on a crusade of terror against police Chief Inspector Blake Morrow, the man he feels is responsible for the death of his criminal parents.
At the time DC was a bit concerned with how the book was being presented in its marketing and interviews with Millar. A Marvel (Icon) book using Batman’s name in their advertising was making the higher ups upset, and rightly so.It was a minor scandal that Millar should have expected, but he countered it like an adult.
One of my friends at DC legal dropped me an informal email back in December saying that someone in editorial was a bit worried by the Batman and Joker mentions in an interview to promote a creator-owned book. They politely asked if I could avoid using those names as it was creating a bit of grief for them and I agreed, saying that’s absolutely fine.
Millar agreed to change the marketing strategy, DC calmed down, and the book came and went without further issue, barely a blip on the map.
Which is why I thought it was odd when it was announced that Nemesis had been optioned by 20th Century Fox to be produced as a feature film. I know Millar had a pair of hits with Kick-Ass 1 and 2, and Kingsman: The Secret Service was hailed by many as one of the funnest movies of the year, and Fox was likely expecting lightning to strike a fourth time.
Well, according to Clark Allen over at The Tracking Board, none of that matters anymore because Nemesis may be moving over to Warner Brothers. Which is interesting, with Warners being the parent company of DC Entertainment potentially adapting a Marvel comic series that was loosely based on a DC character. Well, this is awkward. Warner Brothers has not confirmed this story, but TB is usually pretty trustworthy.
Tony Scott was originally supposed to direct, but with his passing the film has gone to Joe Carnahan, with the latest draft of the script by Joe and Mathew Michael Carnahan, and the film will remain with Tony and Ridley Scott’s Scott Free Productions. TB is saying that all of that is still true, and that they will follow the film to Warners where Drew Crevello and Nik Mavinkurve will oversee the production.
Nemesis does not have a release date as of yet, but I guess they can use Batman in the marketing again.