Earlier this month, Deadpool creator and Image Comics co-founder Rob Liefeld teased that news might be coming about a Prophet movie. And while we are still short of an official announcement, some social media traffic may hint at some of Liefeld’s collaborators. Both producer Adrian Askarieh, CEO of Prime Universe, and writer/producer Marc Guggenheim, co-creator of the Arrowverse of DC Comics adaptations on The CW among other things, may have tipped their hands a little, as Askarieh tweeted a photo of several Prophet comics and Guggenheim retweeted it. Obviously, the two could easily just be fans, and Askarieh could (like many other comics buyers right now) be stocking up on old Prophet issues in case the movie gets made and turns out to be a big hit.
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Still, the proximity of two big names in genre entertainment tweeting the Prophet hashtag with Liefeld’s comments earlier this month is, if nothing else, a coincidence that’s worth raising an eyebrow over. Rumors of a Prophet movie have been ongoing for a while; even beyond general reports that several of Liefeld’s creator-owned works could be adapted as part of a package deal, Prophet has long been singled out as a property with potential.
“PROPHET! 2020 was set as the target for a return to form for John Prophet! I introduced Prophet in the pages of Youngblood #2 in 1992 and he was so well-received that he went on to launch his own multi-million selling series in 1993,” Liefeld said recently. “The Prophet film was set up at Studio 8 last year and I have spoken at great lengths to the screenwriter on several occasions over these last two weeks as the film version takes shape. Things are looking really good, the progress is extremely heartening, and I’m excited for you guys to experience the new material. Once we are on the other side of this difficult period I’ll share even more of the work that’s being done behind the scenes on the new comic book!”
Prophet‘s last comic outing wrapped up in late 2016. As part of a 2012 relaunch of a number of the Liefeld-owned Image Comics titles, Prophet was relaunched with Brandon Graham and a rotating team of artists. That story would play out until 2014 and then be continued in a 2016 miniseries, all of which has since been collected.
The title centers on John Prophet, a homeless man in the ’40s, who volunteered to be experimented on by Dr. Horatio Wells, a time-traveling scientist from the future who used DNA-enhancing methods to transform Prophet into a super-soldier. Originally engineered for evil, Wells had a change of heart and reset Prophet, but after being placed into stasis for decades and awakened by Youngblood, he mistook them as enemies, leading to him becoming the team’s antagonist in his first appearance.
More details on this as they become available. What do you think about the possibility of a Prophet movie from Liefeld? Sound off in the comments.
