Djimon Hounsou to Star in Comic Book Trilogy… Is it Black Panther or Tintin?

Posted by on March 3rd, 2008   Filed under: Books/Comics, Rumours
Source: Movieweb

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There’s a story floating around the web this morning that Academy Award-nominated actor Djimon Hounsou (Blood Diamond, Gladiator) has signed on to star in what he is calling a “dream project”. The only thing he would reveal so far is that it is a comic book trilogy of some sort. He obviously didn’t realize that as soon as you go and mention a new comic book trilogy to someone from a movie web site, people lose their minds searching for more info.

Needless to say, speculation is running wild right now, and the first, most obvious conclusion that people have jumped to is that Hounsou has signed on to star as Marvel comic book hero Black Panther. Tim Story had mentioned a while back that Black Panther might make an appearance in Fantastic Four 3, and that Honsou would be his first choice for the role. It makes sense, except for one minor detail: there is no Black Panther trilogy in the works. At least, not that anyone has heard. It’s possible that when he said “trilogy”, he just meant that he would be starring in one installment within a trilogy. However, there was also going to be a standalone Black Panther film directed by John Singleton at one point, so maybe there is more planned for the character.

Strangely, the folks over at IESB seem to think that he could also be talking about Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson’s Tintin trilogy. I don’t see any compelling argument for this though… is there even a black dude in Tintin?

There are a couple other possibilities that someone should add to the mix: Luke Cage and the upcoming Blade reboot. What do you think is the most likely? Would Djimon Hounsou make a good Black Panther? Will you actually see a Fantastic Four 3?



  • Does he have to play a black character? I mean ya, that’d be the most obvious choice, but maybe he could be cast as someone who is normally a white character. Not that it would be a good idea as far as marketing, fanboys heads would explode, but i think he’s one of the best actors out there and he could pull just about anything off.

  • “Tintin goes to Africa” (Tintin en Afrique) had some black characters, but they were depicted with the humour of the 1930s, so this means dancing minstrel characters; dumb child-like people who are happy only when doing hard work for their masters, with big red lips and torn mismatched clothing. (ie: one wears a top hat, one has a mismatched admiral’s uniform with polka-dot pants, etc.)

    For instance, Tintin’s car gets hit by an African-built train and the train breaks apart, leaving the car intact. Oh, those silly Africans!

    Obviously, in modern times, the book has been criticized for this depiction. (But it was written in the 1930s, so you have to understand that aspect.)

    The point is, I doubt it’s Tintin.

  • Green Lantern?

  • Spawn? Hasn’t Todd McFarlane been ranting on about a new Spawn movie for the last five or six years now?

  • I like Mike’s suggestion. But honestly, Hounsou is so great, I’d see him in anything.

  • marcus

    God, I wish this was a fact instead of pure speculation. The Black Panther could be a combination of Shaka Zulu, Indiana Jones, and the Predator rolled into one. The political intrigue of Malcom X and the CGI tech of Iron Man, directed by.. What’s his name? Del Toro was the one that directed Blade 2 right? Man, that would be one hell of trilogy. Ofcourse this means that Hollywood would probably screw it to hell and turn it into another “Phantom” movie or something.

  • joanne h klimowicz

    This Black Panther appears to be a new evolution. I’d like to see what he does with the character.