Rumor has it that Hollywood might not only be learning from the box office success of films like Black Panther and A Wrinkle In Time, but running with it. The spark for the latest speculative flame is filmmaker Spike Lee, the man behind cultural touchstones like Malcolm X and She’s Gotta Have It, might be directing a film based on the Marvel Comics character Nightwatch for Sony.
First introduced in Web of Spider-Man in 1993, Nightwatch is the alter ego of African-American scientist Dr. Trench, who fights crime using a futuristic suit he discovered on an older version of himself. Needless to say, his origins are complicated, and only get more so.
Also noteworthy is the fact that the design of Nightwatch is very similar to Spawn, a charcter who debuted the year before in 1992, and is also getting a movie adaptation in 2019.
Lee’s potential involvement is still in the early stages and can’t be confirmed, but he script will be penned by Luke Cage showrunner Cheo Hodari Coker. Nightwatch is part of Sony’s stable of Spider-Man-related Marvel characters, which they are making full use of. Sony also has the Venom movie coming out Oct. 5 with Tom Hardy in the title role, and two very different superhero films in 2019. One is the Spider-Man: Homecoming sequel, the other is Silver & Black, which will focus on Marvel (anti) heroines Silver Sable and Black Cat, with Gina Prince-Bythewood (Love & Basketball, Beyond the Lights) directing the latter. Sony also has a Morbius The Living Vampire movie in development.
Spike Lee is currently directing the film Black Klansmen, which is based on the true story of an African-American detective who infiltrated the KKK in 1978 and stars Adam Driver and Topher Grace.
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