It’s now secret that I am a comic book fan. (Fan is probably an understatement) I love the super hero comics and even some of the Sci fi type comics. The one odd ball in my current pull list is Jonah Hex. I don’t know what it is about Jonah Hex as a comic but it really appealed to me. For those that don’t know, Jonah Hex is an Old West style spaghetti western type comic. The character of Hex is a Bounty Hunter who used to fight in the civil war. He was raised by Indians and is a tough as nails, hard to kill bad ass. Imagine Batman in the old west (with no money and a scared up face). Hex has no powers and no reservations on who should live or die, as long as he gets paid. The comic is gritty and real(ish, it is a comic after all.) That’s the main draw for me. Simpler time where the line between black and white was much thinner, and there were no real politics to how Hex handled situations, and no hidden motives. So two years ago I heard they were planning a Jonah Hex movie. I was elated! The story could have been pulled from any of the great runs of the comic and been amazing.
Skip ahead to the present. Many announcements were made about the movie. Josh Brolin was cast as the lead and I thought “Yeah, I can see that”. Even him talking about the makeup and the limitations of doing the Eye and the Lip skin flap, and how they had to fall back on how it looks now because it was the most feasible, it’s all understandable. I groaned when I heard Megan Fox was cast. (Personally I think as long as she shuts up she is ok.) I secretly wished she would be cast as Tallulah Black. (Tallulah ended up as another severely scarred up Bounty Hunter.)
So now we have the trailer launched. I see the story they are going for and I am thinking……WTF?!?! Take a look for yourself:
Seriously. Hex is not “Supernatural”. He has no powers. He got his scared up face from the Apache Indians! Why did they think they needed to go with some strange powers just because it’s a comic book movie?!? Look at 3:10 to Yuma. It was a great Western movie with a bad ass and it worked! That should be the same recipe for Jonah Hex! I know I will still go and see the movie because I want to see more comics made into movies but I reserve the right to be upset about the changes to a beloved character.
Sigh