Filmmaker Ava DuVernay has been involved in many aspects of film production, from publicist to producer, writer and director since the early years of this century. It is in this last task where she has achieved the biggest appreciation, with racial controversy documental 13th (2016) and, especially, after being the mastermind behind multi award-winning biography drama Selma (2014). Perhaps due to the social and activist background of her projects, it has been some sort of surprise that Warner Bros. has chosen her to carry on with the movie adaptation of the DC Comics book series The New Gods.
Written and illustrated by late Jack Kirby, co-creator of many other essential referents in the American comics universe like Captain America, Fantastic Four, The Hulk or X-Men, The New Gods are a fictional race first appearing in the eponymous comic book series published by DC Comics in 1971. The New Gods are natives of the twin planets of New Genesis and Apokolips. New Genesis is an idyllic planet filled with unspoiled forests, mountains, and rivers and is ruled by the Highfather, while Apokolips is a nightmarish, polluted and ruined dystopia filled with machinery and fire pits and is ruled by the tyrant Darkseid. The two planets were once part of the same world, a planet called Urgrund, but it was split apart millennia ago after the death of the Old Gods during Ragnarök.
All of the New Gods possess superhuman abilities of various kinds and differing degrees, including superhuman strength, stamina, reflexes and speed. Along with their superhuman abilities, the denizens of New Genesis and Apokolips are also immortal and endowed with a greater intelligence than Homo sapiens, despite their resemblance. Most of the inhabitants of both worlds receive military training, being a race of warriors.
Kario Salem, the author of the screenplay for The Score (2001), has been hired to write the adaptation script of the movie. He’ll work closely with director Ava DuVernay in order to give form to the universe that will be embodied on the screen.
