Hollywood's Next Big Comic Book Movie Will Make The Boys Look Like Sesame Street

On August 16, 2024, The Hollywood Reporter confirmed that comic writer Garth Ennis has written a script for a movie adaptation of his comic series "Crossed" (drawn by Jacen Burrows, one of Ennis' regular artist partners). Ennis' "Crossed" script has been acquired by the indie production company Six Studios.

These days, Ennis is most known as co-creator of "The Boys" (alongside artist Darick Robertson), the vicious superhero parody that's become one of Prime Video's premier programs. If you think "The Boys" can indulge in ultra violence and bad taste, you ain't seen nothing yet. 

Published by Avatar Press, "Crossed" has well over 100 issues to its name, spread out over various mini-series and the long-running "Crossed: Badlands." Alan Moore even wrote the "Crossed +100" installment. What is this horror tale of epic length about? "Crossed" is basically Ennis' take on a zombie apocalypse.

In "Crossed," a pandemic sweeps the world that robs people of empathy and inhibition. The infected turn into raging sadists, their only goal being to spread (slow) death and the virus. The main physical symptom of the disease is a cross-shaped rash that grows on the infected's faces, so they're dubbed "The Crossed." If you're a "Firefly" fan, think the Reavers without the spaceships; the Crossed are all packs of murderous, cannibalistic rapists but they're also cunning. Their actions are also so repulsive and gory it's hard to imagine how a "Crossed" film can live up to the comic; even an NC-17 rating may not be enough for this one.

Ennis has a reputation for pushing the black humor and violence in his stories to their limit. He's not a complete edgelord (his best works have hearts beneath the depravity) but he is indulgent — "Crossed" especially. The whole premise is basically an excuse for Ennis to write the most grotesque murder and torture scenes he can think up. 

Read enough Garth Ennis comics and you'll notice that pattern; a lot of his stories come from him wanting to vent his rage towards a target. In "Preacher," it's organized religion. In "The Boys," it's tawdry superhero comics, the rot of corporate America, and the Bush administration. (The show updates its satire to attack Donald Trump.) Ennis and Burrows' latest comic, fantasy parody "Babs," includes a scene degrading misogynistic fanboys who can't stand for strong women in their funny books.

I think this is one reason Ennis has proven such a natural fit when writing the Punisher. (The other reason is that Frank Castle is a great vessel for Ennis' pet theme of how war destroys soldiers' souls.) The whole point of a Punisher story is seeing him, well, punish criminals; Ennis points Frank at some of his least favorite people, like human traffickers, white collar criminals, and the IRA. (Ennis grew up in Northern Ireland and is not a fan of Radical Republicans or American plastic paddies.)

I am a fan of Ennis, though I most prefer his writing when he's more restrained and earnest; see his World War 2 comic "Sara" (drawn by Steve Epting). Naturally, "Crossed" is not my favorite of his works. It is the logical next step for a Garth Ennis comic to screen adaptation, though.

Over the last 20 years, some more powerful comic book writers have tried to make the jump to movie mogul. Mark Millar partnered with director Matthew Vaughn to get some of his comics, such as "Kick-Ass" and "Kingsman," delivered to the big screen. In 2017, Millar's publishing imprint Millarworld was acquired by Netflix, explicitly so the company could produce comics that Netflix could turn into movies. That led to the short-lived "Jupiter's Legacy" Netflix TV series based on Millar and Frank Quitely's comic.

Geoff Johns, architect of the modern DC universe, had a brief reign running DC's movie department. Robert Kirkman, co-creator of "The Walking Dead" and "Invincible," has managed to get both of those works picked up into successful TV adaptations. Other well-known comic writers, such as Ed Brubaker ("Criminal"), Scott Snyder ("Wytches," "Nocterra") and James Tynion IV ("Something is Killing the Children"), are currently spearheading adaptations of their works at streaming services.

Ennis' comics have had luck getting adapted because he has some big name fans: Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg. The pair first developed AMC's four-season "Preacher" TV series and then they partnered with Eric Kripke for "The Boys." Kripke tells /Film that while he consults Ennis and Robertson, they take a fairly hands off approach to the show.

Though, Ennis did write episode three of the animated spin-off, "The Boys Presents: Diabolical" (set in the world of his original comics). Whether he's got the screenwriting bug or not, him personally writing the "Crossed" movie script suggests he's going to be in the driver's seat on this one. We'll soon know if Hollywood is ready for uncut Garth Ennis storytelling.

"Crossed" does not have a planned release date at this time.