It's been nearly 40 years since Doc Savage, one of the most prolific and influential pulp adventure heroes of all time, graced the silver screen. That's going to change, as Shane Black is set to direct a new Doc Savage movie for Sony. Black also co-wrote a draft of the screenplay with Anthony Bagarozzi and Charles Mondry. And now they've found the perfect physical match for their title character in Dwayne Johnson.Don't know who Doc Savage is? Perhaps you should. Clark Savage Jr. is a forerunner of Superman (the incredibly strong Savage was heralded as "The Man of Bronze" in his pulp adventures), Indiana Jones, and James Bond (he was a brilliant inventor with an arsenal of clever weapons), and one could argue that his team of gifted specialists are forerunners of later super-teams like the Fantastic Four. Doc Savage first appeared in 1933, and went on to star in hundreds of novels and comic books, as well as 1975's George Pal film, Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze, which starred former TV Tarzan, Ron Ely.
After a few little hints here and there, Dwayne Johnson has gone public with his interest in playing Doc Savage, via Instagram.
With all of the other
projects
on his schedule, it makes sense that the earliest they could get going on
Doc Savage would be 2017. There's little doubt that Johnson looks almost uncannily like the James Bama painted paperback covers that are the most well known interpretation of the character.