You'd think after a decade of wrangling the colossal Harry Potter series, producer David Heyman might want to put his feet up and take some time off. But you'd be wrong, since he's currently knee deep in Alfonso Cuaron's Gravity, and he's just become attached to Image Comics' **Nonplayer, which Warner's are eyeing as a Big Thing for the future.
The six issue miniseries by Nate Simpson is set in America around fifty years hence, and centres around delivery girl Dana Stevens, who spends most of her downtime in a total-immersion MMORG called Warriors of Jarvath. Her avatar is an elite assassin, but when she kills a queen, she starts to receive some unwelcome attention from the supposedly non-player game character King Heremoth, and finds herself in some very real danger...
The comics have picked up some seriously positive attention, with Warren Ellis saying Nonplayer is "fucking stunning" and none other than Moebius calling it "beautiful" and "very cool". Warners clearly agree, possibly seeing a potential tentpole project to back-up the troubled Akira. Roy Lee (The Departed, How to Train Your Dragon) will be overseeing alongside Heyman.
Image are fast becoming Hollywood playas: Sam Sarkar and Garrie Gastonny's treasure-hunting The Vault has also just been picked up by Johnny Depp's Infinitum Nihil production company. You can check out a preview of The Vault here, and one of Nonplayer here. Comic book movies are here to stay, but they needn't always be about the capes...