Director Barry Sonnenfeld has been stringing us along with the tease that he’d be directing a DC comics property for a while now. Today, Sonnenfeld revealed that he’ll be directing THE METAL MEN, based on the comic created by writer Robert Kanigher and penciller Ross Andru. I’ve never read a Metal Men comic book, so I can’t comment on how cool/uncool they may/may not be, but they’ve been around for a long time (first appearing in DC Showcase #37 in 1962) so there’s definitely some historical significance with DC.
Here’s the rundown on The Metal Men:
Created by scientist Dr. William “Will” Magnus, the six robots were field leader Gold, strong man Iron, slow-witted and loyal Lead, hot-headed Mercury, self-doubting and insecure Tin, and Platinum (also called “Tina”), who believed she was a real woman and was in love with her creator. The group’s personalities mirrored their namesake metals, being dictated by devices called “responsometers”. Each Metal Man also possessed abilities that reflected the traits of their namesake metal: Gold could stretch his form almost infinitely, Iron was super strong, Lead could block harmful radiation by morphing into thick shields, Mercury could melt and pass through small spaces before reforming and Platinum could stretch or flatten.
Sonnenfeld has got the skills to pull this off, so it’ll be interesting to see just how well he does it. Although I’ve grown weary of the MEN IN BLACK films, there’s no denying that Sonnenfeld has the ability to pull off some solid comic book/sci-fi work. Well, then there’s WILD WILD WEST…
Check out this episode of The Brave and the Bold, called “Clash of The Metal Men” to get a better feel for who THE METAL MEN are. More as this project develops.