'Blackhawk' Will Bring Steven Spielberg into the DC Film Fold

Steven Spielberg will stay in the geek film space with a new comic book movie from DC Comics. The film will not feature one of the big-name superheroes, but it will be a subject matter Steven Spielberg is familiar with and something he’s wanted to work on for decades.

Warner Bros. Pictures announced Tuesday Spielberg will produce and possibly direct a feature film based on the DC comic book, Blackhawk. This will be a repeat collaboration between the Academy Award-winning director’s production company, Amblin Entertainment, and Warner Bros., which brought the adaption of the Ernest Cline novel Ready Player One to the big screen in March.

“It was wonderful working with the team at Warner Bros. to bring Ready Player One to the screen,” Spielberg said. “They bring a blend of passion and professionalism to everything they do and have a tremendous history in this genre. I am excited to reunite with them on Blackhawk.”

The original Blackhawk comic was about a squadron of ace World War II pilots that fight tyranny across the globe who are led by a man known simply as Blackhawk. Originally released in 1941 by Quality Comics, the book was popular but was eventually acquired by DC Comics in 1957 when Quality Comics went out of business. David Koepp, who worked with Spielberg on the Jurassic Park series and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, will write the screenplay for the film.

Comic fans praised DC for joining forces with Spielberg, but many pointed out how the director said in 2015 that superhero movies were going to die out like Westerns. What some may not realize is that Spielberg wanted to direct an adaptation of Blackhawk as far back as the Eighties.

Spielberg is still not set to direct Blackhawk although that is the intention. The director has plenty on his plate as he is prepping for the next Indiana Jones movie and will follow that film with a remake of West Side Story.