There were certain comics and movies that we didn’t quite have on our bingo card to be made. The latest update from HBO Max fits that.
V for Vendetta is going to be transformed into a TV series, according to Variety. Yes, you’ll know this title from a movie that hit theaters 20 years ago! That movie was based on the comic serial written by Alan Moore and illustrated by David Lloyd back in 1982!
As of right now, the show hasn’t been fully greenlit to series, but it is in the pilot stage. Is it possible that this could work as a TV show?
James Gunn is behind the new V for Vendetta series
It shouldn’t be too surprising to find out that James Gunn and Peter Safran will executive produce the series for DC Studios. Pete Jackson is attached to write it.
While the comic serial originally started in a British anthology Warrior, DC took over the publishing of it in 1988, making it part of that franchise. So, in a world where DC villains and heroes are getting an adaptation, why not a dystopian comic that is sure to get people talking?
V for Vendetta is set in a not-too-distant future in the UK, where the country is now under the control of Norsefire, a fascist party with a secret police that will take down anyone working against it. V, an anarchist known for wearing a Guy Fawkes mask, wants to topple the government. It’s only fitting that it’s with a Guy Fawkes mask, as the man was captured and tortured after being found under the Houses of Parliament, ready to blow up King James I and his Parliament back in 1605. (Yes, that’s real history.)
Could a V for Vendetta series work?
There is certainly an interest in dystopian shows. We just have to look at the success of The Handmaid’s Tale and Silo to know that people want a show with a darker edge to it. Books such as Nineteen Eighty-Four and Fahrenheit 451 remain popular reading material. There’s often this wish to see everyday people find a way to topple fascist or totalitarian governments.
However, I’m not exactly sure a V for Vendetta series could even work. The downside is that it’s a single entry to a story, and there’s a reason there was only one movie! This offers a beginning, middle, and end, and it makes it harder to stretch it to a multi-season show.
That being said, there are limited series out there. Would it be possible to opt for a one-season series? That’s doable, offering a look at how fascist governments takeover, and what it means for everyday people.
V for Vendetta is currently in the process of being picked up to series by HBO Max.