Cover art to GREEN ARROW #4
© 2001 DC Comics

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Smith says "no" to comic adaptations

While promoting his upcoming feature JAY AND SILENT BOB STRIKE BACK, the last of the "Jersey films," writer/director/star Kevin Smith brought a definitive answer to the question of whether he would ever be involved in a big screen comic book adaptation.

"I've been writing GREEN ARROW [for DC Comics] and it's been panning out," says Smith. "But as a movie, I wouldn't go near it. I would never make a comic book movie. There's too much expectation. Those fans are terrible and they'll tear you a new one. Take SPIDER-MAN, for example. The moment they announced that he's going to have organic web-shooters that the web was going to shoot directly out of his body as opposed to a cartridge people were tearing Sam Raimi a new a**hole. They were like, 'The movie's going to suck!' But now, they've settled down. I don't need that kind of torture in my life; I get enough from the life that I lead."

With his revamp of the Emerald Archer a big splash among fans, Hollywood has definitely taken notice. Action producer Joel Silver was quick to snatch up the property's film rights, but even with a personal invitation from the producer himself, Smith avoids the project like the plague.

"Joel Silver called and talked to my agent," says Smith. "I just didn't get involved, because, again, I like writing the comic books, but the difference between writing the comic books and writing the movie is that in the movie you've got to tell an origin story and then tell your main story. In a comic book, you can just start from the get-go and whoever's buying the comic knows the character's entire story."

Still, the filmmaker/comic book scribe has long been attached to the "trapped in development Hell" PREACHER film. Unfortunately, that project has gone the way of the dodo.

"I was attached as an executive producer on Garth Ennis' PREACHER movie because he called us up and was like, 'Can you help us get it made?'" says Smith. "I said, 'If you can throw names on it that helps you kick in a few doors, sure.' But it didn't. I think our names are still attached to it, but we haven't been able to help them get in to anybody's room and look at the movie. [Plus, they don't want] what happened to DOGMA happening here. From the last I heard, the project was absolutely dead in the water."