Paramount scoops up Valiant Comic Harbinger from Sony Pictures

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Sony Pictures had been setting up a Valiant Cinematic Universe based upon the various comics published by Valiant Entertainment for several years, but there's now a hitch in that plan as Paramount Pictures has snagged HARBINGER, which was to be Sony's second VCU film following the release of BLOODSHOT.

Per THR, Paramount has picked up the HARBINGER project, and it seems that much of the current creative team, including director Justin Tipping and producer Neal Moritz, have jumped ship to Paramount as well. HARBINGER follows "a group of super-powered teens who rebel against the corporation that tried to harness their abilities for their own ends." Although HARBINGER was originally expected to have kicked off production this summer or fall, Paramount is now planning on pumping the breaks somewhat as the project will enter a "short development process" before moving forward with the same creative team.

As I mentioned earlier, this move deals a bit of a blow to Sony Pictures' Valiant Cinematic Universe before it even gets started. The upcoming BLOODSHOT stars Vin Diesel as Ray Garrison, a soldier resurrected with nano-technology. It's Sony's hope that BLOODSHOT launches a new franchise when it hits theaters on February 21, 2020, but the film was originally intended to be followed by HARBINGER, which would have connected to BLOODSHOT and subsquently led to an AVENGERS-style crossover event titled HARBINGER WARS. It now seems unlikely that this crossover will take place.