Exclusive: Rob Liefeld’s ‘Icons’ Screenplay About the Rise of Image Comics and Casting Picks

Rob Liefeld is a busy guy. For starters, Godyssey and Bloodstrike have both recently been tapped for big-screen treatment. He also relaunched Extreme Studios, which not only led to the return of Image Comics’ flagship title Youngblood, but also gave fans the critically acclaimed reboots of Prophet and Glory (seriously, look them up, they really are that good).

Amidst all this, Liefeld was also scripting 3 DC titles and manning the art duties on Deathstroke, that is until he quit, announcing his frustrations publicly via his Twitter feed. That was followed by another public spat with notable Batman scribe, Scott Snyder (they have since buried the hatchet). Lest we forget, Image Comics celebrated their 20th Anniversary last year, so one could only imagine all the insider commentary he’s been keeping to himself before signing up to Twitter and writing a blog.

Actually, he’s not keeping any of it to himself. Liefeld documented everything he’s experienced during his 27 years in the industry in his memoir: the good, the bad and the ugly. Somewhere along the way he converted parts of it into a 100 page screenplay that covers the highs and lows of that journey thus far. Today we’re able to bring you 3 excerpts from his screenplay (all confirmed to be the real deal by the man himself), tentatively titled Icons, followed by his dream casting picks of key people for a feature film adaptation (some might surprise you).

‘Icons’ Excerpt 1: Enter Todd McFarlane

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‘Icons’ Excerpt 2: Bye Bye Marvel

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‘Icons’ Excerpt 3: Meeting Eazy-E

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Liefeld wrote the screenplay in 3 days flat and until now has only shared a draft of it with a few close friends. He would however show it to his co-founders upon request as he believes they would enjoy it. So what’s next? Getting it out there!

I can see this material adapted as a HBO feature à la Game Change, with someone like David O. Russell at the helm since he clearly has a knack for making dysfunctional groups work on the screen. We hope to hear more on this project in the coming weeks!

And now for Liefeld’s casting picks:

Christian Bale is Todd McFarlane

Chris Pine is Rob Liefeld

Geoffrey Arend is Jim Valentino

Joe Mangeniello is Marc Silvestri

Rob Corddry is Erik Larsen

John Cho is Jim Lee

Richard Jenkins is Larry Marder

Tony Sirico is Tom DeFalco

Dabney Coleman is Terry Stewart

Whether you love it or hate it, Image Comics had a big impact on the comics industry (in fact, you probably wouldn’t have The Walking Dead if it weren’t for them). Are you interested in seeing this story adapted? Who would you cast?

Up next, Liefeld returns to monthly art starting with Bloodstrike #34. Be sure to follow @robertliefeld on Twitter, one of the most entertaining and often insightful feeds in and about the comic biz (oh, and basketball. He’s passionate about that too).

Source: DreamMovieCast

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