“Imagine If 50 Cent Got Super-Powers”

He's big, strong and, essentially, a slightly less green version of The Hulk. He is Luke Cage and John Singleton is bringing him to the screen. Talking to Comicscontinuum.com, Singleton revealed his vision for Marvel's muscle-bound super hero, not least of all the imminent casting of the lead role. "I've got a couple of people in mind," he said, "but it's premature to say. It's going to be announced in probably a week or so who's going to be Cage." Singleton revealed that the film's villain will be Diamondback, the man who frames Cage for murder and has him sent to prison - where he volunteers for medical experiments and inherits his powers. "I'm trying to get in some of the other characters, like Chemistro, and maybe the Wrecking Crew or some of the obscure Marvel villains." Sporting wrist chains, a dodgy yellow shirt (unbuttoned, naturally) and a steel headband, Cage went by the soubriquet of Powerman during his early comic book days but that rather camp title has since been dropped in favour of the character's given name. Trivia fans may also be interested to know that Nicolas 'Coppola' Cage borrowed his screen name from the character. The screen version will be brought up to date from his comic counterpart, with Singleton going for a more hip, contemporary hero. "He can't wear the yellow shirt and he can't have the chains - I'm not having that. I'm doing the movie for one reason: to have him break out of Seagate Prison with his bare hands. It's a fun movie. It's hip. It's so cool. Imagine if 50 Cent got super-powers."