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“As of 2:06 this morning a Savage Dragon screenplay exists,” Larsen wrote to his Facebook page. “Wish me luck.”
He followed up a few moments later with, “And, yes, I wrote it.”
“This is a first step and it’s an important one,” Larsen added. “But in terms of a movie becoming a reality – it’s far from that. Many people write screenplays. Few get turned into movies. My expectations are realistic, I think. The chance of it becoming a reality is slim but it’s an exercise. I wanted to do it.”
Larsen has been writing and drawing Savage Dragon for his whole life, and as a professional cartoonist since 1982. It was the title he chose to launch at the start of Image Comics when he co-founded the company in the early ’90s.
A Savage Dragon animated series aired on USA in 1995.
“As far as actors go–I’d rather get a guy with decent acting chops than try to find somebody built like Dragon,” Larsen said when he started to be barraged with casting suggestions. “Savage Dragon NEEDS to be constructed. No human being has fists the size of loafs of bread. He can’t just be a normal muscle man and normal muscle men don’t have the comedic timing and acting chops needed to pull off the part.”
He added, “I would think Dragon could be mostly real–with CG arms and chest. And, yes, Bruce Willis is too old. I don’t want to start with an actor pushing 60. I’d rather start with one pushing 30.”
Willis has frequently been a fan-favorite for the role over the years.
That’s not entirely surprising; recently he spoke at length on social media about the differences between comics and film, noting that they each have their own strengths and that one of them is the flawless look of comic book characters that is nearly impossible to replicate with real clothing and human beings.
It’s also worth noting that while Dragon cuts an impressive figure, he’s only 5’10” and is frequently shorter than other characters in the book, including his son Malcolm, who is now the series lead.
