Immediately after (quite successfully) pivoting into original material with Don’t Breathe, director Fede Alvarez is going back to adapting other peoples’ work. This one isn’t a remake like Alvarez’ breakout film, 2013’s Evil Dead, though. No, this time Alvarez, presumably looking for a light, easy project, is venturing into a subgenre of action filmmaking that, historically, has come with little public scrutiny and low expectations from fans. That’s right, he’s making a comic-book movie.
He’s not being sucked up into the Marvel or DC cinematic machines, though. (Not yet, at least. Give it time.) Instead, Sony has hired him to direct an adaptation of crime-story specialists Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips’ Incognito limited series, which was originally published by Marvel’s creator-owned Icon imprint back in 2008. Drawing from vintage pulp heroes like The Shadow and Doc Savage, Incognito follows the adventures of an ex-supervillain named Zack Overkill who regains his super strength after experimenting with illegal drugs. This time around, Zack decides to become a vigilante rather than a criminal—not out of any moral obligation, but to avoid violating his parole.
No actors have been cast for the film version of Incognito as of yet, but Daniel Casey, whose sci-fi/crime hybrid Kin is currently in production, will be writing the screenplay. Whoever Alvarez casts is going to have to be up for anything, though, if Incognito is anything like the director’s previous work.