Ever since Detective Pikachu and The Witcher were released, it seems the curse on video game adaptations, be their movies or TV shows, has been broken. Since then we've got a great Sonic the Hedgehog Movie and Netflix is knocking it out of the park with their video game to anime adaptations like Castlevania. Now, joining the ranks of high profile actors Henry Cavil and Ryan Reynolds as video game characters on the screen, Captain America himself, Anthony Mackie has been cast in an upcoming tv series, Twisted Metal.
Twisted Metal was a series from the late 90s era of gaming that had a lot in common with Mad Max or Death Race. The game was centered on Vehicular Combat with equally insane and outrageous characters like a Killer Clown with fire for hair driving an ice cream truck.
The series is being created by Sony Pictures Television and PlayStation Productions with Anthony Mackie set to play the lead, John Doe, as well as produce. The little we know about the storyline will see Mackie's John Doe fight for his freedom by delivering a mysterious package across a ravaged, post-apocalyptic wasteland in a Mad Max-style race.
What kind of hijinks and shenanigans the movie will see John Doe get into is anyone's guess, but judging by some of the trailers from the Twisted Metal games it's going to be crazy. It's hard to imagine they wouldn't include the cover mascot for the series, Sweet Tooth, an insane clown with fire for hair that drives an ice cream truck.
The series is set to be an action-comedy and will be written by the minds behind Ryan Reynolds Deadpool, Rhett Reese, and Paul Wernick. The only worry with this series is that Twisted Metal was absolutely a product of the 90s, it saw some great success with the first four games, but through the 2000s and 2010s, it started to flounder. The last game, Twisted Metal: Black released in 2015 and throughout its history, the franchise has had to cancel three different titles.
Can a live-action Anthony Mackie-led Twisted Metal series work? With the minds behind Deadpool writing the script, it's absolutely a possibility. But, even if it does do well, I can't see it living up to the standards of the great gaming adaptations like The Witcher, Detective Pikachu, or Sonic.
