DC Comics has long treated its Vertigo brand of comics as a separate entity. While Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman call DC Comics proper home, Vertigo is where readers can find less mainstream comic book tales aimed at mature audiences.
It looks like this same scenario will play out in the movie industry as well. Deadline reports that Warner Bros. Pictures, which oversees the creation of all the DC Comic films like Batman v. Superman, will not have a hand in bringing films based on Vertigo comics to life. Instead, New Line Cinema will be the home for Vertigo adaptations, mimicking the way DC treats the brand in the comic world.
This makes perfect sense. Warner Bros. and DC are already working on more than 10 films revolving around the various superheroes of the DC universe, as the studio looks to build an interconnected cinematic universe on par with that of Marvel. Giving New Line control of DC's more puts less on WB's plate while still maximizing the partnership between the two companies, as New Line is owned by Warner Bros.
The deal isn't official yet, but Deadline says the move is "expected imminently."
A number of in the work projects will likely fall under this new Vertigo film label, the most obvious being the adaptation of Neil Gaiman's The Sandman. You might say Sandman is responsible for the entire Vertigo label in the first place given the comic's massive success. The film has been in development for a while now, with Joseph Gordon Levitt set to potentially star and direct the project.
Some characters who have found a home in the DC Universe proper, such as Constantine and Swamp Thing, started under the Veritgo line. Many of these characters operate on the fringes of the DC universe in much darker tales that one would see in in the main DC comic lineup. Guillermo Del Toro's long in development Justice League Dark, now renamed Dark Universe, walks the line between the two brands and could fall into either the Vertigo or mainstream DC film camp.
Other notable Vertigo comics that could see a film adaptation include Preacher, Northlanders, Lucifer and Y: The Last Man, though Preacher is being adapted into a television series for AMC first. A Y: The Last Man movie was in the works from New Line not too long ago, but the film rights reverted to the series' creator after the project couldn't get off the ground.
Long story short: the is no shortage of promising Vertigo properties that could land on the big screen from New Line. Now it's just a matter of time to see which project will see the light of day first.
Be sure to follow T-Lounge on Twitter and visit our Facebook page
