After months of teasing a secret Hollywood project, fans of comic book writer Tom King got a huge surprise on Wednesday with the announcement that King will be co-writing the screenplay for the upcoming The New Gods along with filmmaker Ava DuVernay with DuVernay also on board to direct the film. Now, King is himself weighing in on the news with a simple and perfect Tweet.
The celebrated comic writer, who is coming off a multiple Eisner award-winning run (along with artist Mitch Gerads) on Mister Miracle, tweeted out an image with a black background and, in all white, the words “The came a time when the Old Gods died…”, a phrase recognizable to many comic book fans as the first line of Jack Kirby’s New Gods No. 1 from 1971.
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— Tom King (@TomKingTK) May 30, 2019
While it is currently unclear exactly what The New Gods movie will take on in terms of story, it seems fairly likely that King’s involvement may be based on the strength of his work on Mister Miracle. The idea that Mister Miracle, as well as Big Barda, could be major players in the film is one that fans have somewhat expected since in December, not long after the project was first announced, DuVernay herself shared an image of the New Genesis royal family — Highfather, Orion, Lightray, Mister Miracle, and Big Barda, to her Twitter feed. With King now involved, fans may be expecting that focus even more.
It’s also currently unknown if or how The New Gods will be connected to previous films within the DC Extended Universe. Former Warner Bros. Pictures president Kevin Tsujihara has previously said that the studio was focusing more on single movies that were more self-contained before attempting to go back to an interconnected universe.
“We have the right people in the right jobs working on it,” Tsujihara said previously said. “The universe isn’t as connected as we thought it was going to be five years ago. You’re seeing much more focus on individual experiences around individual characters. That’s not to say we won’t at some point come back to that notion of a more connected universe. But it feels like that’s the right strategy for us right now.”
As of right now, The New Gods does not yet have a release date. Upcoming DC films include Joker on October 10th, Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) on February 7, 2020, Wonder Woman 1984 on June 5, 2020, The Batman on June 25, 2021, The Suicide Squad on August 6, 2021, and Aquaman 2 on December 16, 2022.
