Frank Miller directing The Green Hornet and Buck Rogers

Ok so some of you might know who Frank Miller is. He's the man behind classic graphic novels and most recently film adaptions of Sin City, 300 and now the Spirit. Early word is that the Spirit isn't going to live up to expectations but we'll have to wait and see when it comes out. Regardless of the bad early buzz Frank Miller is still the man about town in Hollywood. So you might be asking, who the hell is Buck Rogers and The Green Hornet?



Buck Rogers is actually one of the earliest cinematic science fiction heroes in history. We're talking the 1930s here! Rogers is best known from the long-running syndicated newspaper comic strip. He also appeared in a 1939 movie serial, a 1979television series, and several comic books. The adventures of Buck Rogers comic strips, movies, radio, and television became an important part of American pop culture as it helped pave the way for other space adventure properties such as Star Trek and Star Wars.



The Green Hornet is a lesser known hero who debuted back in the 1930s. Originally created by George W. Trendle and Fran Striker for an American old-time radio program in the 1930s, the character has appeared in other media as well, including film serials in the 1940s, a network television program in the 1960s, and multiple comic book series from the 1940s to the 1990s. Though various incarnations sometimes change details, in most incarnations the Green Hornet is Britt Reid, a newspaper publisher by day who by night goes out in his masked "Green Hornet" identity to fight crime as a vigilante, accompanied by his similarly masked Asian manservant Kato and driving a car, equipped with advanced technology, called "Black Beauty". Seth Rogan (Superbad, Knocked Up) and Stephen Chow (Kung Fu Hustle) have been tapped to play the duo for Sony Pictures with a 2010 release.

Even though both of these properties are pretty obscure and never made it to the pop culture forefront like Superman or Star Wars, if done right, these properties can find a new life. I haven't been much of a fan of remakes lately ie War of the Worlds and The Day the Earth Stood Still, but I still feel that you can take a dirty penny and shine it up. They just need the right people at the helm. Frank Miller? Let's see how the Spirit turns out.