Judge Death and The Dark Judges in a future film?

[Adrian Bamforth]

To be Death there has to be a ghoul in a helmet, however realised, otherwise, call it a different character. Movie audiences might buy into some kind of shape-shifter, but the fun of the strip is the lack of depth to those characters; I just think grown up movie audiences will demand Dredd faces a more intellectually challenging foe. Some things translate, some don't in my view.

[Steve Green]

I think possession/hallucinations are fair game - and with the psi stuff in the film, not a huge stretch.

It is all a bit scarecrow/batman begins but if that can have batman portrayed as a demon, then I don't think it's too much of a stretch if they are just hallucinations rather than walking/talking zombies in fancy dress.

[IndigoPrime]

Im not sure I want to see any villain from the comic morphed into the cinema version. If there is a sequel, I'd sooner see new ideas and foes than a 'broken' version of the Dark Judges.

[darnmarr]

Although it's true there's always 'badasser' ways of doing things: Even Scooby Doo



I agree with Indigo ; I don't see why every/any element that worked in the comics has to be shoe-horned into the screen-based story.

Maybe it is doable but frankly I reckon Death and the gang just aren't interesting enough as characters to warrant the effort.

[HunterZolomon]

Ok, I gotta ask. For those of you who are opposed to a movie version of the Dark Judges:

Do you think any film adaption could do them justice?

To me, the Dark Judges and Judge Death especially are as integral to Judge Dredd as Joker is to the Batman.

[radiator]

I think it's pretty reductive (and a little blinkered) to automatically assume just because a character's origin is altered, they are therefore 'broken'. As long as the spirit of the character is portrayed well that's what matters to me.

In the case if Judge Death, his appearance and origin have always seemed a bit silly and far-fetched and I for one would enjoy seeing a fresh take on him - be it as a rogue insane psi judge or a mysterious mutant from the Cursed Earth. Even better would be a version with no clear explanation, just have characters theorising on where he/it might have come from.

[darnmarr]

...To me, the Dark Judges and Judge Death especially are as integral to Judge Dredd as Joker is to the Batman...

That really is very integral indeed then. For me, I have never thought that that was the case.

[HunterZolomon]

That really is very integral indeed then. For me, I have never thought that that was the case.

Your avatar disagrees

[darnmarr]

It's BRUCIE that's integral!

[HunterZolomon]

 

[IndigoPrime]

To me, the Dark Judges and Judge Death especially are as integral to Judge Dredd as Joker is to the Batman.

I think the city's the main character, and then Dredd. Also, Dredd's faced myriad foes, but Death has only shown up a handful of times. He's probably the most iconic and well-known Dredd villain, but I don't think he's a Joker-style nemesis, because there's never been any such thing in the strip.

I think it's pretty reductive (and a little blinkered) to automatically assume just because a character's origin is altered, they are therefore 'broken'. As long as the spirit of the character is portrayed well that's what matters to me.

Well, quite, but here's the thing: you can keep the spirit of Dredd in the world this film appears to be set in. But what do you do with an undead mirror of Judge Dredd? I think it'd be a big ask to keep the spirit of Death alive (er, so to speak), and if the character's massively changed, it'd be better off being something entirely new.

In the case if Judge Death, his appearance and origin have always seemed a bit silly and far-fetched and I for one would enjoy seeing a fresh take on him - be it as a rogue insane psi judge or a mysterious mutant from the Cursed Earth. Even better would be a version with no clear explanation, just have characters theorising on where he/it might have come from.

The more I knew about Death, the less I liked him. The mystery was one of the draws in the early days, but Young Death just soured the entire thing for me. It'd be like Mignola providing a massive backstory for one of the monsters in Hellboy and turning it into a black slapstick, just for the hell of it.

[radiator]

To me, the Dark Judges and Judge Death especially are as integral to Judge Dredd as Joker is to the Batman.

Nowhere near close for me.

For one thing, the dark judges have only featured in - off the top of my head - Judge Death, Judge Death Lives, Four Dark Judges, Necropolis, Dead Reckoning, Judgement on Gotham, Die Laughing and now Day of Chaos.

Give or take a few cameos - and three Judge Death solo series - that makes about 8 appearances in Dredd's 35 year history, and the Dark Judges as a unit have only appeared in 6 of those.

How many times has the Joker appeared in a Batman comic?

[HunterZolomon]

I'm quite aware of the differences between the Joker and Death and I agree with you, I didn't mean it in that sense. But as you say he is the most iconic and well-known Dredd villain.

What about Moriarty as comparison? He was featured in one story right? I doubt a Sherlock movie or TV franchise would exclude him...

[darnmarr]

As they're usually based on individual cases, most do.

But it's a fair point, frequency of occurrence/appearance is not really what makes an arch-enemy an arch enemy.

Fairy nuff; but Dredd is to Death is not as Joker is to Batman, and personally, I wouldn't want them to be:

American comic-book films, like traditional American comic-books, seem to parade around unending successions of 'heroes' and 'villains' in meaningless 'show-downs' like a series of shallow caricatures in a Wrestling ring. I always felt I got something much better than that from the Mega-City. Death and the boys probably are the most memorable 'villains': but heroes and villains aint what it's about, for me.

[HunterZolomon]

Please don't intentionally misunderstand me darmarr. You know perfectly well what I mean.

Death has always been the iconic and most well-known, most recognizable Dredd villain and that is why he should be featured in a movie franchise. It is in that sense he is comparable to the Joker.