"life is sweet isn't it when you flirt with death? Excitement...beauty? But your not flirting...you're marrying death.Guaranteed. No refunds or exchanges."
Strike Force:Morituri by Peter B. Gillis & Brent Anderson.
Imagine the Earth invaded by marauding aliens. Imagine the Earth is losing badly. Now imagine you could make a difference. Volunteers are given the opportunity to undergo the "Morituri Process" that will give the individual a unique super power; the catch is that the process is fundamentally incompatible with the human body. EVERYONE that undergoes the process WILL die.
The Morituri Effect is completely unpredictable and the lifespan of the recipient is the same. You could live anywhere from minutes to a year. In effect, it's a death sentence. The drama in the series comes from examining the individual reasons anyone would volunteer for the process; patriotism, revenge, immortality, glory, loneliness, naivete' and so many other reasons.
The individual battles within are what makes the series so memorable: the atheist that's horrified that eternal damnation may be his reward for his lack of faith, the born leader that fears he'll die before he does anything to merit being remembered, the female Morituri that hopes to live long enough to deliver the baby she's carrying,and so many others. Compelling stuff.
Heavily reminiscent of "V" and countless other alien invasion movies Strike force:Morituri offers a fresh take ( almost 22 years after it's creation by the way). Sadly when Gillis and Anderson left the series the book plummeted in quality and was canceled. Joining the ranks of cult classics Strike Force is generally remembered fondly and hope for a movie version comes up from time to time. Rumor of a Sci fi channel series turned out to be false ( given sci fi's track record that may be a good thing).
A couple of reasons I don't think we'll see a Morituri movie:
The basic story is far more interesting in a episodic setting as opposed to a two hour movie. A Strike Force series ( possibly on HBO ) would be far better suited for the narrative...UNLESS Marvel had the balls to commit to a three picture deal. I doubt they would do that for an unproven and relatively unknown property.Another problem would be getting money for a project that almost demands young unknown actors to stay close to the main story point that the volunteers are between 17-21. Hollywood execs would laugh you out of the building if you requested big money for a three picture deal that included no bankable stars in leading roles.
This train "ain't gettin'" on the tracks
Shang Chi Master of Kung Fu by Steve Englehart, Jim Starlin, Doug Moench, and Paul Gulacy.
A combination of Kung Fu action, 007 spy thrills , and pulp comic villains; it's safe to say that comic book readers had never seen a comic quite like Shang Chi Master of Kung Fu before.What it lacked in originality it more than made up for in a skillful blending of the aforementioned genre's. The basic plot revolves around a core group of British MI 6 agents:Black Jack Tarr (bigoted but heroic tough guy), Clive Reston (who may or may not be the son of the legendary James Bond), Leiko Wu (the beautiful Chinese-British female agent), and Shang Chi (son of the evil would be world conqueror, Fu Manchu).
Both the villainous Fu Manchu and Sir Denis Nayland were key characters created by Sax Rohmer in 1912. Marvel having purchased the rights to Rohmers work decided to mix the key protagonist, Sir Denis Nayland Smith, antagonist, Fu Manchu with their own creation Shang Chi; thus Shang was introduced as the son of Fu Manchu. Raised to be the ultimate assassin by his father, Shang Chi, later turns his back on his father after having his true evil nature revealed to him by Sir Denis. Although disgusted by the "Games of Deceit and Death" involved in the espionage world he is involved in, he decides to join the fight against his father.
Coming straight out of the early 70's Kung Fu craze created by the legendary Bruce Lee, Shang Chi was basically a carbon copy of the "little dragon" but under the skillful hands of Steve Englehart and Jim Starlin and later by the team of Doug Moench and Paul Gulacy he became so much more. Running for over 125 issues the original series has attained cult status with fans including many that were not even born when Shang Chi debuted in Marvel Special Edition 15 back in 1972.
Although never popular on the level of the "big guns" like Spider-Man, Batman or even
Daredevil, the character has maintained a presence in the Marvel universe to this day ( Moench and Gulacy even reunited to do a 5 issue limited series a few years ago). Unfortunately, due to Marvel no longer owning the rights to Sax Rohmer's characters, Fu Manchu and Sir Denis Nayland Smith can no longer be used by name in any new stories. This legal entanglement AND possible interpretations of racism by people understandably offended by the Fu Manchu character are the main reasons I sincerely doubt this character will ever make it to the big screen, at least as we know him. Our loss. I for one would love to see these "games of Deceit and Death" played out on the big screen.
IMDB (The Internet Movie Data Base) lists a Shang Chi movie in the plans for 2009 but I'll believe it when I see it at the theater. Considering another Martials Arts Marvel character, Iron Fist, has been in development for years I think you would have to be incredibly optimistic to believe we will see "deadly hands" next year. If we do see it, will it have all the elements that make the character so interesting or will it be just another martial arts movie with great action and no plot? I'm betting it'll come up short...way short.
I'm begging Marvel to prove me wrong.
Imagine the Earth invaded by marauding aliens. Imagine the Earth is losing badly. Now imagine you could make a difference. Volunteers are given the opportunity to undergo the "Morituri Process" that will give the individual a unique super power; the catch is that the process is fundamentally incompatible with the human body. EVERYONE that undergoes the process WILL die.
The Morituri Effect is completely unpredictable and the lifespan of the recipient is the same. You could live anywhere from minutes to a year. In effect, it's a death sentence. The drama in the series comes from examining the individual reasons anyone would volunteer for the process; patriotism, revenge, immortality, glory, loneliness, naivete' and so many other reasons.
The individual battles within are what makes the series so memorable: the atheist that's horrified that eternal damnation may be his reward for his lack of faith, the born leader that fears he'll die before he does anything to merit being remembered, the female Morituri that hopes to live long enough to deliver the baby she's carrying,and so many others. Compelling stuff.
Heavily reminiscent of "V" and countless other alien invasion movies Strike force:Morituri offers a fresh take ( almost 22 years after it's creation by the way). Sadly when Gillis and Anderson left the series the book plummeted in quality and was canceled. Joining the ranks of cult classics Strike Force is generally remembered fondly and hope for a movie version comes up from time to time. Rumor of a Sci fi channel series turned out to be false ( given sci fi's track record that may be a good thing).
A couple of reasons I don't think we'll see a Morituri movie:
The basic story is far more interesting in a episodic setting as opposed to a two hour movie. A Strike Force series ( possibly on HBO ) would be far better suited for the narrative...UNLESS Marvel had the balls to commit to a three picture deal. I doubt they would do that for an unproven and relatively unknown property.Another problem would be getting money for a project that almost demands young unknown actors to stay close to the main story point that the volunteers are between 17-21. Hollywood execs would laugh you out of the building if you requested big money for a three picture deal that included no bankable stars in leading roles.
This train "ain't gettin'" on the tracks
"...games of Deceit and Death"
Shang Chi Master of Kung Fu by Steve Englehart, Jim Starlin, Doug Moench, and Paul Gulacy.
A combination of Kung Fu action, 007 spy thrills , and pulp comic villains; it's safe to say that comic book readers had never seen a comic quite like Shang Chi Master of Kung Fu before.What it lacked in originality it more than made up for in a skillful blending of the aforementioned genre's. The basic plot revolves around a core group of British MI 6 agents:Black Jack Tarr (bigoted but heroic tough guy), Clive Reston (who may or may not be the son of the legendary James Bond), Leiko Wu (the beautiful Chinese-British female agent), and Shang Chi (son of the evil would be world conqueror, Fu Manchu).
Both the villainous Fu Manchu and Sir Denis Nayland were key characters created by Sax Rohmer in 1912. Marvel having purchased the rights to Rohmers work decided to mix the key protagonist, Sir Denis Nayland Smith, antagonist, Fu Manchu with their own creation Shang Chi; thus Shang was introduced as the son of Fu Manchu. Raised to be the ultimate assassin by his father, Shang Chi, later turns his back on his father after having his true evil nature revealed to him by Sir Denis. Although disgusted by the "Games of Deceit and Death" involved in the espionage world he is involved in, he decides to join the fight against his father.
Coming straight out of the early 70's Kung Fu craze created by the legendary Bruce Lee, Shang Chi was basically a carbon copy of the "little dragon" but under the skillful hands of Steve Englehart and Jim Starlin and later by the team of Doug Moench and Paul Gulacy he became so much more. Running for over 125 issues the original series has attained cult status with fans including many that were not even born when Shang Chi debuted in Marvel Special Edition 15 back in 1972.
Although never popular on the level of the "big guns" like Spider-Man, Batman or even
Daredevil, the character has maintained a presence in the Marvel universe to this day ( Moench and Gulacy even reunited to do a 5 issue limited series a few years ago). Unfortunately, due to Marvel no longer owning the rights to Sax Rohmer's characters, Fu Manchu and Sir Denis Nayland Smith can no longer be used by name in any new stories. This legal entanglement AND possible interpretations of racism by people understandably offended by the Fu Manchu character are the main reasons I sincerely doubt this character will ever make it to the big screen, at least as we know him. Our loss. I for one would love to see these "games of Deceit and Death" played out on the big screen.IMDB (The Internet Movie Data Base) lists a Shang Chi movie in the plans for 2009 but I'll believe it when I see it at the theater. Considering another Martials Arts Marvel character, Iron Fist, has been in development for years I think you would have to be incredibly optimistic to believe we will see "deadly hands" next year. If we do see it, will it have all the elements that make the character so interesting or will it be just another martial arts movie with great action and no plot? I'm betting it'll come up short...way short.
I'm begging Marvel to prove me wrong.
Short interview with series co-creator Steve Englehart
Excellent series overview at Toonopedia
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