Tim Miller's Adaptation Of The Goon Is Going To Netflix [Comic-Con]

Eric Powell's comic book series "The Goon" has had a long road to the screen. David Fincher first optioned the movie rights to the title all the way back in 2008, with an eye toward directing it as an animated film. But by 2012, Fincher and voice actor Paul Giamatti made it sound like the project was having budget issues and had run out of money. "Deadpool" and "Terminator: Dark Fate" director Tim Miller later became attached to the project, with the success of the former film in 2016 making it seem like the "Goon" adaptation had been revived and had a better chance of making it to the screen.

Better late than never? Fast forward to 2022, and now we have news coming out of San Diego Comic-Con that "The Goon" is headed to Netflix. This news comes straight from the horse's mouth, as Miller told the assembled crowd (including /Film's Jacob Hall) at Collider's Directors on Directing panel that Patrick Osborne is now directing "The Goon." Osborne most recently helmed "Three Robots: Exit Strategies," the first episode of the third volume of Miller's Netflix series, "Love, Death & Robots," which Fincher co-executive produces. Osborne's directorial debut, the short film, "Feast," won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature in 2015, and was shown in front of Disney's "Big Hero 6" during its theatrical run.

Miller remains on board "The Goon" as a producer and he said that Powell is working on the project with Osborne. The project also utilized crowd-funding, but Miller told the Comic-Con audience that they were the first outside Kickstarter to hear the announcement.

Powell posted some rough test footage for "The Goon" to his YouTube account back in 2011, and above, you can see the proof of concept that Blur Studios put together as part of the Kickstarter campaign for "The Goon." It features Giamatti's voice as Franky, the Goon's sidekick, with Clancy Brown voicing the Goon himself as they share a drink in a bar with a "slackjaw" (aka zombie) before heading out into the street to gun down some of its undead brethren.

The Goon's comic book origin depicts him as an orphan raised by a carnival strong-woman, who eventually comes to face off with a weird mix of other beings (some supernatural), including vampires, hobos, and — my personal favorite — skunk apes, so named because of the foul stench they emanate.

Powell's original "Goon" series has been collected into 16 trade paperbacks. For fans of "The Goon," news of its Netflix-bound film adaptation comes as the long overdue payoff to 15 years of development hell.