One of the two other projects DC has in the works is the Western Jonah Hex. Unlike the other films Jonah Hex is actually shooting as we speak with Josh Brolin, familiar to the Western genre with his part in No Country for Old men, playing the titular character Jonah Hex a disfigured bounty hunter in 19th century America who is hired by the Union to stop Quentin Turnbull, played by John Malkovich, whoat this point is rumoured to be a voodoo practioner looking to wield an undead army against the Union and free the south. Filming is going on in New Orleans so it should have good locations and a gritty feel to it while the studio is already planning a sequel so hopefully they'll make this one good. Hex is described as surly and cynical, a character not unlike Clint Eastwood's Man with no Name. Megan Fox is also along for the ride as Hex's love interest Leila. Jimmy Hayward, who made his directorial debut with Horton Hears

a Who is helming this one. Hex is scheduled for release August 6 2010.

The other new character being given the film treatement by DC is the Green Lantern. Not much is known about this production yet as it is still in its pre-production phases. We do know that Martin Campbell, director of Bond films Casino Royale and Goldeneye is directing, that it is currently scheduled for release on the 17th of June 2011 and it has a reported budget of $150 million dollars so it's going to be pretty epic. Story wise they have chosen the Hal Jordan Green Lantern storyline. A Green Lantern is someone who possesses a ring which gives the wearer the power to do incredible things. There isn't just one Green Lantern but many all over the galaxy who are all apart of the Green Lantern Corps, basically an intergalactic police force. Hal Jordan is given a power ring by a dieing alien Abin Sur who crash lands on Earth and subsequently becomes a member of the Lantern Corps. Apparently we are going to be going intergalactic on this one, seeing the Lantern Corps and battling an intergalactic threat. No one has been cast as the Green Lantern yet but Chris Pine, Captain Kirk in the new Star Trek, Bradley Cooper, star of the recently released The Hangover and Brian Austin Green, Derek Reese from the recent Terminator TV show have all been rumoured. Expect a flurry of action around this one soon though as shooting is expected to start as early July.

I don't know what to make of these films as I'm not very familiar with the comic books. Jonah Hex sounds interesting with it's scarred bounty hunter lead, I mean bounty hunter's are cool and Josh Brolin and John Malkovich are excellent actors but the director seems a little inexperienced. I don't know hopefully it will surprise me, the set shots so far look pretty cool and intense. The Green Lantern is being helmed by a brilliant director in my opinion, Goldeneye and Casino Royale are close to my favourite Bond films. I think Bradley Cooper would make a great choice for the lead as he isn't a huge star yet but is primed to be and this could be the film to do it. It seems ambitious with it's massive budget and hopefully it creates a fun yet interesting story about the Lanterns and what they do. At least we'll all get to pretend we have power rings, BAM!!

As stated before in an earlier blog DC are obviously working on a third batman film after the massive success of The Dark Knight. So far we know Christain Bale is contracted to return as Batman and the writing team from the first two are currently working on a script but that's it. Chris Nolan, the director of the first two may not return whilst rumours hit overdrive about who will be the next villain after the success of the late Heath Ledger as The Joker. I think The Riddler is the right way to go but I'm not sure whether he has the ability to be the sole bad guy, he really needs to be teamed up with someone like The Penguin. I heard a story rumour where Edward Nigma, The Riddler, was a gifted private detective who was hired by the Gotham Police Department after Batman was accused of Dent's murder. Nigma is tasked with solving the crimes they can't solve and with finding Batman. Nigma becomes obessessed with trying to catch him and begins setting dangerous traps, like hostage situations and bombings for Batman, becoming the villain himself. Meanwhile Batman is forced underground where he faces the new breed of villain the Joker promised, mainly the new mob run by The Penguin. This won't be Burton's penguin, just a shrewd but very violent businessman who has taken over things. Batman both battles and uses The Penguin as he knows all the goings on in Gotham's underworld and Batman needs to know who is trying to get him. I just thought this was a cool story where we get to see a different type of madman and hopefully a different more dark Batman.

Finally DC are planning to reboot the Superman franchise, again. The Bryan Singer helmed Superman Returns which was released in 2006 didn't quite live up to the expectations the studios had. Singer was originally still going to come back for a sequel but after the success of The Incredible Hulk reboot and the much darker Dark Knight Warner Brother's and DC are contemplating a complete reboot of the series again. Apparently they still like Brandon Routh as Superman and are gunning for a 2011 release. They hope to find a truly worthy villian for Superman this time round, so something equally super powered whilst exploring any potential darkside Superman may have. I never saw Superman Returns, I'm just not a big Superman guy but I do recognise he is an icon and has great cinematic potential if he can be handled right. An interesting comment was made by Paul Levitz, president of DC Comics, who said that when Christopher Nolan can be signed on for another Batman film then serious work will be done on a Superman reboot and a string of other DC projects will be announced.

So there it is is, a brief look at what's on the radar from our good friends at DC Comics.