Noah Hawley Still Discussing ‘Doctor Doom’ With Marvel Studios
While Legion may be coming to an end with the beginning of its final season, Noah Hawley may not be done with Marvel. The showrunner of FX’s critically-acclaimed superhero-themed psychological drama is still talking with Marvel Studios, who are very much interested in his Doctor Doom script.
While talking to The Hollywood Reporter about what it took to give Legion a worthy ending, the conversation shifted away from television and into the context of movies. Hawley brought up the movie script that he began work on prior to Disney completing their acquisition of Fox:
“What was interesting to me originally about the X-Men universe is these are movies that started in a concentration camp. They are clearly concerned with the true nature of human evil. It’s not just some cosmic force bringing about the end of the world. That’s what was always interesting to me here. Let’s explore through this genre the every day evils we do to each other, the ways we hurt each other and take each other for granted. There are different stories and characters who will bring about other themes. I wrote a script about Doctor Doom, an anti-hero story I really like, and we’re still talking about making it. I’m trying to get out from under this movie I made and this last season of Legion, and Fargo is coming back up… But for better or worse, these are the stories we want to hear right now. I think you can bury your head in the sand and say, ‘That’s unfortunate for our culture because they’re simplistic.’ Some people say that. I don’t look at it that way. I think they are morality tales on a larger scale, and it’s better to be part of the conversation than pretend the conversation isn’t happening.”
Fans have had concerns about the future of Hawley’s planned Doctor Doom standalone film, given that Marvel Studios are set to take creative control over the Marvel IP that they inherited with Disney’s acquisition of Fox. While Fox’s planned X-Men spin-offs are likely toast (aside from the ones directly connected to the Deadpool movies, which will continue development), Doctor Doom seems to be a potential exception that could be retrofit into the Marvel Cinematic Universe with a few changes. The project is likely to take a backseat to Marvel’s rumored Fantastic Four reboot (since Doom’s origin is tied to team founder Reed Richards), but once that’s been released, there should theoretically be nothing keeping Hawley’s Doctor Doom from becoming a reality.
Hawley also explained that he’s had talks with Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige (who has seen Hawley’s script) to discuss some undisclosed projects (read: Doctor Doom, among other things), noting that he sees the superhero genre as being something incredibly flexible:
“I did sit down with Kevin Feige recently and I said that I look at myself as sort of the Marvel R&D department. I know the genre can do all of these amazing things that [the Marvel Cinematic Universe] is doing, but my feeling is, what else can we do with it? Can we make it surreal? Can we make it musical? Not as a gimmick, but all of these techniques are about putting you into the subjective experience of these characters.”
Obviously, we shouldn’t expect to hear Victor Von Doom belt out a show-stopping, operatic cover of Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” at the end of this potential movie, but it’s interesting to see that Hawley recognizes how flexible he sees the genre as being. Beyond making the movie a political thriller, Hawley’s take on the supervillain could very well play with expected genre conventions and make for something truly unique in a saturated marketplace. Hawley’s ideas certainly have support in-house at Marvel Studios, so hopefully we’ll get a clear idea on whether or not the Doctor Doom movie is something that will happen in the relatively near future.
While the current status of the proposed Doctor Doom movie is unclear at this time, Hawley is keeping busy with developing Legion. The show is currently airing its final season on FX.
Grant Davis is a freelance writer who has covered entertainment news for more than seven years. His articles have frequently appeared in Star Wars News Net as well as as other entertainment-related websites. As someone who grew up on Star Wars and comic book movies, he’s completely thrilled with the current era of genre entertainment.
