BOOM! Studios‘ A Vicious Circle is one of the most stunning comic books to hit the stands in a while. And now, Lee Bermejo and Mattson Tomlin‘s book is being adapted into a movie for Universal Pictures, with Black Panther director Ryan Coogler producing.
Focusing on an assassin named Shawn Thacker, the book is a wild mash-up of time travel and action as he and the man who ruined his life are torn through time from the far future to the distant past, battling and ultimately discovering they may not be on opposite sides after all. And while Tomlin’s plotting and characterization are excellent, it’s Bermejo’s art that’s next level as it tweaks and changes style form photo-realistic to more abstract as the duo duke it out throughout the ages.
“Building this world and characters with my partner Lee Bermejo and our friends at BOOM! Studios has been one of my favorite creative experiences to date. It’s rare to be given so much freedom to say what you want to say and to then see Lee bring the world to life so vividly has been a literal mindblower. I’m so psyched to have the chance to watch our characters leap into yet another reality and a whole new medium with a similar mind-bending approach with the help of our friends at Universal and the wizards at Proximity,” said A Vicious Circle co-creator, Mattson Tomlin via a press release provided to Comic Book Club
Added Bermejo, “Collaborating with an amazing writer and partner like Mattson Tomlin on A Vicious Circle and being allowed by BOOM! Studios to bring that vision to a reality has been one of the most creatively and personally fulfilling of my career thus far. We wanted to create a project that would take viewers on an experience they’d never seen before, and now I’m beyond thrilled to see it take on new life with the visionary folks at Proximity at a fantastic home like Universal.”
The potential movie version will be produced by Coogler, Sev Ohanian and Zinzi Coogler through Proximity Media, with Rebecca Cho as EP, along with Zetra Evans for Proximity. On the BOOM! side, Stephen Christy is producer, with Adam Yoelin as EP and Mette Norkjaer as Co-Producer. Senior VP of Production Development Ryan Jones will, per his title, oversee the project.
Tomlin has been a busy guy lately. Beyond comics, he helped in an uncredited role writing The Batman, and is the official co-writer of The Batman Part II. Meanwhile, he’s also writing the live-action adaptation of Keanu Reeves, Matt Kindt, and Ron Garney’s BRZRKR, and the script for a feature film version of Mega Man. On the TV side, he’s the writer and EP for Netflix’s Terminator Zero anime, and is working on an adaptation of Rick Remender’s Fear Agent. And now this, too!
If you want to check out A Vicious Circle, the third issue hits stores on August 7, 2024. Here’s a look at the cover:
