It was just about a year ago, when Rob Liefeld and Netflix entered into a pact that would see much of (but not all) of his Extreme catalog – still some of my favorite work in the Image pantheon – developed into television projects for Netflix. It was to have included the following: Bloodstrike, Brigade, Bloodwulf, Re-Gex, and Kaboom.
As somebody who recently wolfed down the entirety of Bloodstrike just ahead of Michel Fiffe’s brief, amazing run with the property, my excitement around the possibilities of a live-action “Blood Brothers” adaptation was running at all time high earlier this summer, further stoked by his deal with Studio 8 for a Prophet adaptation. Everything was coming up Liefeld this year, and that’s saying something considering the previous few years he’s had in the public eye as a part of the mega-successful Deadpool franchise.
But it looks like just a few months into the agreement with Netflix, things went astray. Liefeld took to twitter yesterday on the subject:
I get questions about @netflix all the time. After being at an impasse this summer, I took Extreme elsewhere for a better deal and fit. There is no Netflix deal. More soon enough.
— robertliefeld (@robertliefeld) January 23, 2019
What a bummer in the short-term, but on the other hand, one can’t blame Liefeld for keeping an eye on his legacy and how its presented on screen. We’ve seen one too many bad adaptations of creator-owned comics that the right partnership really is paramount here. I will continue to await Cabbot Stone’s big live-action debut.
But hey…maybe something else is on the horizon…
Wouldn’t you like to see Bloodstrike fight Prophet? I know I would. https://t.co/FLFyxaBcVz
— robertliefeld (@robertliefeld) January 24, 2019
“Pursuing other options” is usually code for “fired.”
Very true, George, but in this case Rob was not “fired”. The original Deadline story stated that Liefeld’s properties were “optioned” — and that means just that — Netflix had the option to go forward with them pursuant to certain creative, logistical, programming or budgetary criteria being met. Doesn’t mean one side was right or wrong — or that there was any bad blood. Sometimes things just don’t work out.
Happens all the time in Hollywood.
I think “Badblood” was an Extreme book in the 90s.
Comments are closed.