Netflix's Supercrooks - What We Know So Far
Back in 2017, Netflix acquired Mark Millar's comic book publishing company, Millarworld, and made a commitment to bring its properties to the small screen. The first of its tales to come to life was "Jupiter's Legacy," which debuted a first season on May 7 that kinda bombed. Never fear, though. Although "Jupiter's Legacy" has already been cancelled and its actors released, there's more where that came from. Millar announced through a tweet yesterday that his next step would be to create a new live-action series based on "Supercrooks," which he originally created with Leinil Francis Yu.
Interestingly, there's already an anime version of "Supercrooks" in progress. In fact, it's so far along that Millar said in a follow-up tweet that it would be previewed at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, which takes place June 14-19 in France. Here's what we know so far about the newly announced live-action "Supercrooks," which will delve into the shady world of Millarworld's supervillains.
What is the release date of Supercrooks?
A film adaptation of "Supercrooks" has been in the works for years, although a previous attempt to bring it to screens by Waypoint Entertainment failed. Deadline says that this version of a live-action "Supercrooks" is in its "early stages," and there isn't much information available about when it might be released. However, you'll be able to get ready for it by watching the anime version, which is due out by the end of 2021.
Additional Millarworld projects will likely beat the new "Supercrooks" project to release as well, including "American Jesus," which Millar stated has wrapped production as of February. "The Magic Order" is currently in development, along with other productions, including a six-episode spy series called "Reborn," plus the films "Empress," "Huck," "Sharkey the Bounty Hunter," and "Prodigy." All these seem to be in different states of development, so it remains to be seen when they'll finally make it to Netflix.
Who is in the cast of Supercrooks?
No casting has been announced yet for "Supercrooks." It's been speculated, however, that some of the characters from "Jupiter's Legacy" might make their way over to "Supercrooks," as there is some crossover in the comic books, and Millar did say he planned to return to the "Jupiter's Legacy" world later.
"Jupiter's Legacy" had a high-profile cast that included Josh Duhamel as The Utopian, otherwise known as Sheldon Sampson; Leslie Bibb as Lady Liberty, or Grace Kennedy-Sampson; Ben Daniels as Brainwave, Sheldon's older brother Walter; Elena Kampouris as Sheldon and Grace's daughter Chloe; Andrew Horton as The Paragon, their son; Mike Wade as The Flare; and Matt Lanter as Skyfox. These actors portray two generations of superheroes, part of the Union of Justice, struggling to stick to their ideals in a changing world. It only makes sense that this superhero organization would have a dark counterpart and that the two would clash.
Given that "Jupiter's Legacy" ended on a cliffhanger, appearances in "Supercrooks" might also lend a bit of closure for the stars of the cancelled show, but we'll have to wait and see how that plays out.
What is the plot of Supercrooks?
The original "Supercrooks" story is a heist adventure that's been compared to "Ocean's 11," featuring a group of supervillains who have been gathered together by recently paroled Johnny Bolt to pull off one last crime — in Spain, because the U.S. is too saturated with heroes and villains battling it out. The target is another supervillain named The Bastard, who keeps his ill-gotten gains in a vault underneath his house.
"Supercrooks" ran for four issues in 2012 as a stand-alone read, which makes some wonder how it'll provide enough material to create a full show. In fact, Millar did note in a May 17 tweet that he "had to plot lots of new stuff" to fill out the anime, which is 13 episodes long. It's unclear at this point how the anime relates to the live-action show or if it does, but presumably Millar will also need to add a bit of depth to this version, too, to make sure there's enough content and to keep it from containing a simple rehash of heist-film tropes.