It’s Time to Reboot This Classic Comic Book Character (Even If the First Movie Failed)

The future of comic book adaptations and superhero films is going to be starkly different than the 2000s heyday of these domains. Even in the era lasting from X-Men to Spider-Man: No Way Home, not every superhero movie ripped from the pages of long-running comics could get green-lit. Just ask that Blumhouse Spawn reboot that can’t seem to get off the ground. However, any potential character could get a movie in this time as studios chased the box office success of Avengers and Wonder Woman. That’s how we wound up with Bloodshot, Morbius, and Max Steel.

Nowadays, though, even Marvel Cinematic Universe titles like Captain America: Brave New World don’t hit $420+ million worldwide with ease. These films can still make a pretty penny globally, as seen by Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. However, the more erratic modern box office track record for these titles means it’ll be tougher to get features in this space green-lit. Even with this new status quo, though, it’s time for a classic comic book character got another chance at the silver screen. It’s time for The Green Hornet to ride again.

The Green Hornet’s Weird Cinematic History

Two years before Superman debuted in the world of comics, The Green Hornet was already out there fighting crime as the star of a famous radio program. Britt Reid/Green Hornet is arguably the most famous superhero to have its origins in the same realm that gave the world Lux Radio Theatre and the Orson Welles “War of the Worlds” broadcast. Soon, the character and his faithful crime-fighting partner Kato grew enough in popularity to score a comic adaptation in 1940. That same year, the first of two movie serials starring this character hit theaters.

Of course, despite that lengthy history (which also includes a 1960s TV show adaptation that saw Bruce Lee in the role of Kato), modern audiences may only be aware of The Green Hornet thanks to a 2011 film starring Seth Rogen and Jay Chou. This boondoggle did okay at the box office, but Rogen has since distanced himself from the project. Like so many other comic book movie characters, the Green Hornet character got a subpar introduction into the world of comic book movies. However, Deadpool and Venom showed that such crummy debuts don’t have to be the end of a character’s cinematic road.

After all, there could be tremendous value in doing a faithful, fun version of Green Hornet on the big screen, especially if a traditional origin story was eschewed. Jumping right into a detective story where Reid and Kato solve crimes together in their car, the Black Beauty, that could be a recipe for entertainment. Reid and Kato having no superpowers to their name and engaging in more grounded exploits, which could also be a welcome respite to so many modern superhero movies obsessed with multiversal shenanigans and excessive scale.

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Artists Love Green Hornet For A Reason

The Green Hornet isn’t a household name character by any stretch of the imagination. Despite that reality, The Green Hornet is very ubiquitous in pop culture, especially since the ’60s TV show is such a critical part of the beloved Bruce Lee’s career. The Green Hornet show and/or character has been referenced in projects as varied as Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Sesame Street, and even a beloved Aretha Franklin song.

Meanwhile, the 2011 version of the character was preceded by endless versions caught in development Hell, which saw the likes of George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, Jet Li, and Kevin Smith connected to the character. There’s a reason so many artists are attracted to this character beyond just the fame of that Bruce Lee TV program. Part of that is because of what Smith described as “the simplicity” of the character. It’s easier for someone to come in and put their own stamp on more of a pop culture blank slate like Green Hornet than, say, Spider-Man.

Committing to a lower-budget film reboot of the character (which could avoid the problems the endless cost-oriented issues the Seth Rogen tentpole ran into) could let a very specific director realize The Green Hornet in a fashion like nobody ever could. The resulting motion picture could be an absolutely dynamite production that’s so superb because of its idiosyncrasies rather than chasing comic book movie trends. Perhaps a resulting Green Hornet reboot would just be an amalgamation of other comic book movie adaptations, which is how a proposed Gavin O’Connor reboot from 2016 sounded. However, if studio heads were willing to take a risk on the project in this bizzarre new normal for comic book movies, there’s tons of potential in giving one of the first superheroes another shot at movie stardom.

The Green Hornet is now streaming on Pluto TV.