Kevin Smith’s upcoming run on Hit-Girl will bring the character to Hollywood, where she will face down (and likely beat down) sexual predators in the film industry.
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The four-part storyline, illustrated by Pernille Ørum (DC Super Hero Girls), will be titled “The Golden Rage of Hollywood.” It is the fourth four-part story arc so far in Image Comics‘ ongoing Hit-Girl series, after she found herself in Colombia, Canada, and Rome.
“I wrote most of ‘The Golden Rage of Hollywood’ Hit-Girl arc while recuperating after my health scare, so it was Mindy McCready and her bloody thirst for justice who helped me mend my broken heart,” Smith told Deadline. “Telling tales with Mark’s toys was an absolute pleasure, but having Pernille bring it all to life makes this a must-read for me! Pernille’s style is like hot cocoa for the eyes and soul, so I’m ecstatic she opted to lend it to our pint-sized, pre-pubescent Punisher!”
According to the Deadline piece, the story arc “will feature some familiar faces from the original Kick-Ass and Hit-Girl series by Millar and John Romita Jr., and each issue is a tribute to a different era of American cinema.”
Millar, for his part, is excited to be working with Smith, too; he told Deadline that he had been a fan since Clerks first came to Scotland, and that he had written to Smith years ago asking to read the director’s (never-made) Superman Lives script.
Smith’s decision to take aim at Hollywood predators is likely a very personal one: for years, Smith’s films were championed and often bankrolled by the Weinstein brothers. Harvey Weinstein was the first, most notorious, Hollywood icon taken down by a sexual harassment scandal after the #MeToo movement began to make its way through the corridors of power in Hollywood.
“My entire career is tied up with the man,” Smith said last October. “Everything I did in the beginning has his name on it. And I spent many years lionizing him, telling stories. Whenever I tell the Clerks story, there’s, you know, and then we got bought by Miramax.”
Miramax, the studio founded by Robert and Harvey Weinstein, released Clerks and Chasing Amy, two of Smith’s first films. Dogma was placed on indefinite hold by Miramax parent company Disney, which led to the Weinsteins buying the film and selling the rights to Lionsgate in order to get it released.
Smith decided to contribute all future royalties from Weinstein productions he worked on to a women’s charity, and his Chasing Amy and Dogma collaborator Ben Affleck decided to do the same. Smith did not work with Affleck on the Oscar-winning Good Will Hunting, helped get the film made by putting in a good word for Affleck and Matt Damon with the Weinsteins.
Smith’s arc is set to begin in January 2019 with Hit-Girl #13. The series’ first cover, released along with the Deadline story and seen above, was provided by Francesco Francavilla.
