Reginald Hudlin to Direct Valiant’s Supernatural Superhero Movie ‘Shadowman’ (Exclusive)

by Graeme McMillan

Courtesy of Roberto de la Torre/Valiant Entertainment (Art); Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images (Hudlin)

Hudlin will also co-write the story with ‘Salem’ showrunner Adam Simon.

Independent comic book company Valiant Entertainment is continuing its march toward the big screen, with Heat Vision learning that the adaptation of its Shadowman series has brought on new creative team to redevelop the property.

Adam Simon, showrunner for WGN America’s Salem, will rewrite a screenplay by J. Michael Straczynski based on the supernatural comic book property, sources familiar with the project revealed. Reginald Hudlin, fresh off his directorial return with this October’s Thurgood Marshall thriller Marshall, is attached to direct.

Shadowman is a supernatural concept based around an African-American musician in New Orleans who becomes infected by a spirit that allows him otherworldly abilities. As the latest incarnation of the titular Shadowman, a mystical defender of Earth against demonic invasion, he has to protect against threats from Master Darque and other denizens of the netherworld known as the Deadside.

The character debuted in 1992’s Shadowman No. 1, and currently appears in the company’s current Rapture comic book series, which launched last month.

For the film, Hudlin and Simon will work together on the revised story for the project, while Straczynski remains on board as executive producer. The Sean Daniel Company’s Sean Daniel and Jason Brown will produce with Valiant Entertainment’s Dinesh Shamdasani. As with Valiant’s Archer & Armstrong, the project will be developed in-house before being shopped to studios.

Although this will be Hudlin’s first cinematic superhero project, he has a significant body of work in superhero comics, including a four-year run on Marvel’s Black Panther, and his current work reviving the Milestone franchise for DC Entertainment. He also wrote the comic book adaptation of Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained, and co-wrote the follow-up, Django/Zorro, with Matt Wagner.

Shadowman is one of many Valiant properties to be developed for the big screen. Sony has a five-picture deal with the company for its Harbinger and Bloodshot characters, with Archer & Armstrong being developed by Terry Rossio and Zombieland‘s Ruben Fleischer. Quantum & Woody is also under development for television, with Joe and Anthony Russo as executive producers.