Austin McConnell's Atlas Movie Hopes to Kick Off the Weirdest Shared Superhero Universe
Just three months after first proposing a "Bargain Bin Cinematic Universe" filled with offbeat, old-timey superheroes whose rights had lapsed into the public domain, filmmaker and YouTube personality Austin McConnell is set to begin production on Atlas, an animated feature film that will kick off that bizarre and ambitious project if all goes right. As with Iron Man before it, Atlas: The Animated Movie will focus on a single character and his adventure, but will introduce another member of the shared universe in a post-credits scene. Since the project is being crowdfunded via Kickstarter, backers will vote on which character will take that moment in the spotlight.
Atlas first appeared in an uncredited story in Daring Adventures #18 from I.W. Publications. Per the Public Domain Superheroes Wiki, it's possible he was created by comics legend George Tuska. The character had a single appearance, in which office worker Jim Randall went from being punched out by mobsters, to being visited by the Greek god Atlas, who gave him a series of "mysterious exercises" which allowed him to become a superhero gifted with extraordinary strength and agility.
"Atlas: The Animated Movie is sort of a 'test run' for the overall universe, focusing on Jim Randall's origin story – but one of our campaign's stretch goals is a Post-Credit scene," McConnell told ComicBook, who said that he read about 70 different comic books populated by a dozen or so short-lived and abandoned superhero characters to come up with the eventual idea.
With 11 days to go in the Kickstarter campaign, the Atlas movie has earned just under $40,000 -- which means it's going to happen. The goal initially was $15,000. McConnell has also made some t-shirts and hoodies available to fans who are ready to really invest in a character with only a single appearance that's extremely difficult to actually buy (although reprints are widely available thanks to its public domain status).
That same status, of course, has given rise to other attempts to revitalize or update abandoned heroes. Whether it's Erik Larsen using them in Savage Dragon and The Next Issue Project or Dynamite's long-running Project Superpowers, the idea of bringing back these old, forgotten heroes isn't new. But it is to McConnell.
"I hadn't heard of those before doing my thing, but several comments pointed me to Project Superpowers," McConnell admitted. "I'm purposely keeping myself in the dark so as to not let their universe influence what I'm building. The great thing about the public domain is that there are an infinite number of character interpretations, and if you don't find one you like, you can make it yourself! I hope Atlas: The Animated Movie encourages aspiring writers and artists to dip their toes into the public domain, too. It's a lovely sandbox."
Right now, the film's script is around 80 pages, though the full runtime will depend on the budget (which will not be set in stone until the end of the crowdfunding campaign). McConnell also says that he has no specific cast in mind yet, since he will need to know what the budget is in order to figure out what the possibilities are. This is all part of a broader philosophy of keeping his expectations realistic.
McConnell has made self-depreciating content an art form, making popular YouTube videos about the failure of a feature film he wrote, and a book he self-published. The success of those videos (and of his YouTube channel in general) certainly suggest he's a voice that people are interested in hearing from, but he's trying to take some of the lessons from those experiences into Atlas.
"I'm definitely learning to set realistic expectations, and I'm also learning more about what my audience is interested in seeing," McConnell said. "Most of all, I've learned to just try things, y'know? Don't let the fear of failure paralyze you from experimenting and taking creative leaps. Get an idea, try it out, learn what worked (and what didn't) and then move on to the next thing."
Atlas was created as the first step into a shared universe, but as fans have seen so many times before, focusing on that big picture at the expense of the movie at hand can be a catastrophic idea. So what's next? He isn't sure whether the next movie will even happen, let alone whether it will be crowdfunded or more traditionally financed. McConnell admits that isn't the priority.
"As I'm telling the fans, 'let's get this one done, first,'" McConnell explained. "Distribution plans are still being formulated for this movie – if Atlas is well-received and audience interest continues to grow, I hope to continue the story. To that end, we DO have a stretch goal that will greenlight the next hero, if enough folks decide to hop on board with the idea. Studio superhero movies are generally high-budget, high-risk affairs, which often translates to more formulaic 'proven' properties and stories. The spirit of the Bargain-Bin project (like its source material) is to avoid too-big-to-fail productions. We want the freedom to be experimental. To try things. These stories are for an audience that celebrates the rough edges and imperfections – we want to tell unconventional stories with unconventional heroes and maybe, just maybe, make magic."
