How did Mark Millar manage to get all his comics books made into movies?

[Doctor Know]

The world was not yet ready for “Superman rapes Zod before breaking his neck”.

Wonder why it's taken so long for Snyder and Millar to make a film together? They seem to be made for each other.

Unfortunately, no. Millar reportedly said that Superman killing Zod was like Sylvester the cat eating Tweety Bird. He flamed Suicide Squad with hyperbolic comments saying he needed to take his kids to therapy after they saw it. He didn't like Captain America Civil War, because it wasn't accurate to "his story" (yeah, go figure right?).


Millar is an odd bird for sure. Given what his catalog of works is filled with.

[Jeremi]

Mark Millar can write a comic book mini-series as though it's the pitch for a live action adaptation. I'm sure that's what he has in mind most of the time (whereas the more famous works of Frank Miller and Alan Moore came out so long ago, adapting them was unthinkable at the time). Gaiman's a different animal, it's mostly his books (like Coraline, American Gods, or Good Omens) that fit more for the screen as opposed to his comic book work. Despite his name recognition, something like Sandman is a tough beast to pull off, and in this current environment, it would have to go through a ton of changes (if something like Lucifer is any indication).

Morrison has the same problem, he likes out there metatexual genre-bending ideas made specifically for comic books. Seaguy, WE3, stuff like that are incredibly off the wall. That isn't to say he can't do something more grounded (relatively speaking) like Happy! he just doesn't have a history of churning out books ready to go like Mark Millar.

This was basically what I was going to come in and say. His stuff is usually written as a movie pitch, or that's at least how his work reads to me.

[martianarts]

Its just ( mostly) fast-paced, linear storytelling with lots of action, well defined characters, and no high-flying, abstract concepts or "weird " endings.. You always now where you are at in a Millar story, and that apparently translates pretty well to the screen, if you want to reach a broad audience. And I enjoy my dose of Millar from time to time.

[Monyok Miclovan]

Unfortunately, no. Millar reportedly said that Superman killing Zod was like Sylvester the cat eating Tweety Bird. He flamed Suicide Squad with hyperbolic comments saying he needed to take his kids to therapy after they saw it. He didn't like Captain America Civil War, because it wasn't accurate to "his story" (yeah, go figure right?).


Millar is an odd bird for sure. Given what his catalog of works is filled with.

I mean, can't i write pitch black pulp and hope that Star Trek stays optimistic?

Its just ( mostly) fast-paced, linear storytelling with lots of action, well defined characters, and no high-flying, abstract concepts or "weird " endings.. You always now where you are at in a Millar story, and that apparently translates pretty well to the screen, if you want to reach a broad audience. And I enjoy my dose of Millar from time to time.

Minus the Wanted comic having a unique ending...

[Elmo]

Unfortunately, no. Millar reportedly said that Superman killing Zod was like Sylvester the cat eating Tweety Bird. He flamed Suicide Squad with hyperbolic comments saying he needed to take his kids to therapy after they saw it. He didn't like Captain America Civil War, because it wasn't accurate to "his story" (yeah, go figure right?).

LMAO and this is the same guy that wrote Ultimates 1 & 2.

[Agent Z]

Millar will say anything to get attention.

[skyvolt2000]

What of his has been adapted? I can only think of Wanted.

Image just did the mini series Prodigy (think Michael Holt without the costume) and it was already green lighted for a series for Netflix.

I wouldn't be shocked if we see Kick Azz come back since the comic is now starring a former military vet who happens to be a black woman. Especially with the New 007.

[skyvolt2000]

A big thing is he got hot at just the right time too. Companies were gobbling up anything comic related and he had quite a bit of creator owned stuff so the studios came a knocking.

And they still are.

Image's Bitter Root got a deal before the fifth issue came out. Which will be interesting since one of the writers is doing Naomi at DC with Bendis.

Kwanza's Black got a deal too.

[ed2962]

And they still are.

Image's Bitter Root got a deal before the fifth issue came out. Which will be interesting since one of the writers is doing Naomi at DC with Bendis.

Kwanza's Black got a deal too.

I have no idea about how the movies will turn out, but I'm happy to hear this. It shows people both indie and minority creators/creations can be successful in the same way that former Big 2 creators can. We don't have to wait on Marvel/DC to finally get around to telling certain stories or giving us certain leads.

[Somecrazyaussie]

As others have already elucidated, Millar has a knack for creating works that are basically, for want of a better term, "movie pitches." Each one having concepts that are easily translated to screen. It also helps that most are ready made franchises as well. There is a unwritten rule in Hollywood that, if a film can't be pitched in one to two sentences, then it will never be made. Almost all of Millar's works can be summed up in one or two sentences.

He hasn't had it easy, though. Wanted was a reasonable success. However it was only a loose adaptation of the original source material. Kick-Ass is the property that really got Hollywood interested in his creator owned stuff. In the latter's case, Matthew Vaughn was also a contributing factor towards its success. Same deal with Kingsman.

The stuff he wrote under the Ultimate Marvel Imprint were made to look and feel cinematic (Hitch on The Ultimates especially.) But he also stripped the core characters and themes down to their central essence and updated them for a more modern setting. The fact those stories were starting from scratch and weren't tied down with any continuity was the cherry on top.