Ava DuVernay accepting her award at the The 76th Annual Peabody Awards Ceremony at Wall Street, May 13, 2017 - Stephanie Moreno/Flickr.
CAIRO – 16 March 2018: Hot off the heels of “A Wrinkle in Time”, director Ava DuVernay's next project is an adaptation of comic-book king Jack Kirby's expansive cosmic mythos “New Gods” for Warner Bros.
Produced after Kirby left Marvel to join competitor DC in 1970, “New Gods” was Kirby's attempt at creating a superhero series like nothing before. Also known as the “Fourth World Saga”, it told the story of a vast cast of characters in a sprawling galactic epic told across three different comic book series, and then numerous other additions. Its first central character was the son of the ruthless tyrant Darkseid, Orion, who was raised away on the Utopia of New Genesis with love and understanding by his uncle, the Highfather, which allowed him to put his evil sideat bay to rise above his father.
Darkseid is the ruler of the hellish planet of Apokolips and aims to control all life and thought in the universe through unlocking the “Anti-life Equation”, which he believes can be found on Earth. Orion is joined by a cast of characters, such as former villainess Big Barda and his best friend Lightray, as he seeks to confront his father and fight to save Earth and all the known universe.
Despite being a part of the DC Universe, the setting of the “Fourth World Saga” stands mostly alone, telling its own tale.
This project marks the second superhero movie to be directed by a woman, following Patty Jenkin's “Wonder Woman”. The announcement comes a week after it was reported that DuVernay's “A Wrinkle in Time” has raked in $33 million at the box office during its opening weekend. The film made history as the first ever $100 million production directed by a woman of color.
According to Deadline, Kario Salem of “Chasing Mavericks” (2012) will serve as the film's writer. No word on a cast has been announced yet. DuVernay, having first made success with “Selma” has made quite the directorial leap into multi-million dollar projects, likely paving the way for numerous other women directors of color to follow in her stead.
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