As he steps into the role of one of Marvel Comics’ most famous superheroes once again for the upcoming Woverine: X-Men Origins, actor Hugh Jackman has joined forces with screenwriter Marc Guggenheim and publisher Virgin Comics to create an original comic series titled Nowhere Man. The detail Virgin will surrender at this point is that it will be a sci-fi odyssey is set in a future in which mankind has traded privacy for safety.
‘I’ve had so much fun in the graphic novel world with the X-Men franchise that I wanted to get even more involved,’ says Jackman. ‘I am so excited to work with Virgin and Marc and create a compelling character and story that hopefully will also make it to the big screen.”
Virgin will team with Jackman’s Seed Prods. and producer John Palermo to create the comic series and then pursue film and other opportunities. Gotham Chopra, Virgin Comics’ chief creative officer, who will oversee the development of the series with Seed Prods.’ Amanda Schweitzer.
‘We’re already up and running on the creative side of things and having a lot of fun,’ Chopra comments. ‘We believe that our new partnership with the team at Seed on Nowhere Man is the start of something big.’
Guggenheim, creator of the ABC television series Eli Stone, will pen the Nowhere Man series. His previous experience in comics includes writing issues of Marvel’s Wolverine series, as well as the best-selling Amazing Spider-Man.
Virgin Comics was established in 2005 by Virgin Enterprises Ltd. founder Sir Richard Branson, author Deepak Chopra, filmmaker Shekhar Kapur and entrepreneurs Sharad Devarajan, Gotham Chopra and Suresh Seetharaman. The company is developing new franchises with acclaimed filmmakers, actors and musicians including John Woo, Guy Ritchie, Terry Gilliam, Dave Stewart, Ed Burns, Nicolas Cage, Duran Duran and Sachin Tendulkar. Feature films based on Virgins’ characters are also in the works, including the animated feature The Secrets of the Seven Sounds, Guy Ritchie’s Gamekeeper with Warner Bros and producer Joel Silver, and Virulents with FOX and director by John Moore (The Omen, Max Payne). Virgin Comics also formed a joint venture with NBC-Universal to create new science fiction properties for graphic novels and television with the SCI FI Channel. The first title in this series, The Stranded, premiered in January of 2008.
