Variety described Paramount's optioning of the comic book The Bad Guy as 'counter-programming' in the face of Hollywood's current wave of superhero films.  Self-published by creators Jason Harris and Zack Morrisette, The Bad Guy is the story of an assassin named John, who takes out spandex-clad heroes who step over the line in a relatively crime-free future populated by too many superheroes with too much time on their hands.  So far only one issue of The Bad Guy has been published, though the creators are thinking seriously about quitting their day jobs in order to get the second issue out.

 

Ironically the two men behind the optioning of The Bad Guy are two of Hollywood's most experienced producers of comic book-based superhero films.  Brady Josephson, who will produce the film under his Josephson Entertainment banner, was a key player in the development of The Tick television series as well as both Men In Black films, while the man who will executive produce The Bad Guy, David Hayter, is described correctly by Variety 'as one of the top scripters of superhero fare.'  Hayter has worked on both X-Men films as well as on The Hulk.

 

Is The Bad Guy the cinematic equivalent of a 'hedge fund' -- a vehicle which Paramount can turn against the superhero film, when that genre goes out of style, or is it just a nice change of pace from the usual superhero action fare?  Only time will tell if The Bad Guy will make it to the silver screen and whether it will serve as counter-programming or harbinger of doom for the current crop of superhero movies.