Deadpool director is collaborating on a Neuromancer film.
(But, don’t expect it any time in the near future)

It is official retro-lovers – Tim Miller has plans for William Gibson’s genre defining novel Neuromancer. He will be collaborating with Simon Kinberg.  Unfortunately, he is currently set to direct the new and generally unasked for Terminator film or films being produced by James Cameron; heaven help us.

Neuromancer is a 1984 science fiction novel by William Gibson and is regarded by many to be the genesis of the Cyberpunk genre. It is the recipient of the Hugo Award, Nebula Award and the Philip K. Dick. This is the first novel by Gibson and first in the Sprawl trilogy.

The story is set in a dystopian future where the global eco-structure has restricted itself in the wake of geopolitical warfare and the evolution of the megacorporation that has their tentacles in every part of the world affairs and trade. The main protagonist or anti-hero is a drug addicted former computer hacker named Case who’s ability to tap into cyberspace had been damaged after crossing the wrong people. He lives in and inhabits the underworld of Chiba City, Japan. Case is offered a job by the mysterious Armitage after being rescued by his cybernetic augmented “Razorgirl”, Molly Millions. Armitage is offering Case not only a monetary reward but, the repair of his neural jack and access back into cyberspace again.

In 1989, Epic Comics published a 48-page graphic novel version by Tom de Haven and Bruce Jensen. It only covers the first two chapters, “Chiba City Blues” and “The Shopping Expedition”, and was never continued.

The BBC World Service Drama production of Neuromancer aired in two one-hour parts, on 8 and 15 September 2002. In 2009, The New Museum in NYC hosted a six hour reading of Neuromancer  directed by Brody Condon with former adult star turned Hollywood actress, DJ and author Sasha Grey reading the part of Molly Millions.

There have been several proposed film adaptations of Neuromancer, with drafts of scripts written by British director Chris Cunningham and Chuck Russell, with Aphex Twin providing the soundtrack. After that project fell through the cracks, Neuromancer as a live-action film has jumped into pre-production after pre-production and so on; with names such as Joseph Kahn, Vincenzo Natali and Chuck Russell.

So let’s be optimistic about this one. Hopefully James Cameron doesn’t infect him with the Douche malware that he downloaded from George Lucas on some dickbag TOR site. I also highly recommend yous all watch MR. ROBOT if you need a good cyberpunk fix.

[source: http://www.joblo.com/movie-news/cast-this-case-in-neuromancer-from-deadpool-director-tim-miller-206 ]

Though the genre is rooted in the late 70’s, with John Carpenter’s enduring Halloween establishing many of its tropes, slasher films are one of the biggest pop culture relics of the 1980’s. We recognize them instantly. The way that soundtracks, camera techniques, storytelling choices, and imagery all coalesce creates something that is distinctly recognizable to us. Night Trap, the latest series from Lion Forge Comics, written by Cullen Bunn, drawn by JB Bastos, and colored by Robby Bevard attempts to bring these elements to a comic book format. In many ways it succeeds, but a lot is going to depend on the next issue in the series. A lot of its best qualities are on what it promises to deliver, an inversion involving Kelly, who will inevitably be the “final girl”.   

Night Trap #1 has some heavy lifting to do in this regard. In the first issue, we get just enough characterization to know that Kelly not only is different from her friends who are with her in the rental home in the middle of nowhere, but also that she will undoubtedly survive the entire ordeal. Kelly doesn’t have any interest in romantically or sexually pursuing any of the guys who have joined her friends, and she doesn’t seem to have a desire to get intoxicated. According the quasi-puritanical slasher film ideology, she’s the survivor. Her poor boy crazy blonde friend doesn’t stand a chance.

Despite the promotional material and narrative framework that makes it clear that Kelly will not survive and subvert what is expected of the slasher world in which she finds herself, Night Trap #1 doesn’t get to that point. It instead follows the beginning of the slasher movie point-by-point. There are several young adults who wind up staying together in a house in the middle of the woods, intending to drink and hook up. A backwoods sociopath and his family have set up a series of traps to milk as much terror as they can out of their victims before finally killing them. One of the guys staying in the home is sent out to turn on the water pump, because of course, and while he is out there he is the first of the group to be horrifically murdered.

That is, more or less, the first issue. It’s a standard set-up, and I think that it’s going to be one that makes more sense and will warrant a reread upon reading the next issue. I have a feeling that this is a set up of a very deliberate batch of tropes that are, for the most part, going to be inverted. Only time will tell if I’m right, but if it goes that way this could be a really cool book when read all at once. Bunn’s writing does exactly what it is supposed to if that is the case. Everybody sounds pretty much expendable aside from Kelly. She is immediately written as the most likable and the point of reference for anybody seeking a character to connect with. He also does something interesting with the Trapper, the killer of the story. The comic opens with him watching slasher movies in his home and yelling at the screen. Unlike the characters in Scream, who yell at the victims – which makes sense given that they are the victims of their own story – the Trapper is yelling at the masked killer. It will be really interesting to see how the Trapper applies this sort of genre awareness to the story and how that gets blown up by whatever happens with Kelly.

Bastos’ art is solid throughout. It’s never terribly flashy, but it is very good at conveying just how alone the victims are. In particular, his use of light and shadow, as well as his rendering of the forest as a backdrop really convey the atmosphere of a Carpenter-esque slasher film. His job is just as difficult as Bunn’s in this regard. There is also one particular panel early on that is just stunning as much as it is grotesque. We see the Trapper’s previous victims in the Louisiana bayous, all tied down near the bottom of the swamp. The imagery and Bevard’s coloring choices really make it a memorable panel long after you’ve finished reading.

This is going to be a comic that is made or broken by its next issue. It’s solid and any fan of horror in general, and slasher movies in particular, will find a lot to like here.

Night Trap #1 comes out June 1, 2016