Since two Hercules films came out this year, I began to wonder more about the possibility of a live-action Hercules film and realized any such film has four major problems it would have to overcome.
1. He would have to separate himself from his mythological counterpart.
Marvel's Hercules is closer to his mythological counterpart than Thor. Thor has blonde hair, space armor, and a futuristic city. Hercules is dressed sort of what the general public thinks ancient Greece was like and Olympus is all Greek temples. The Olympians are also considered more as "gods" in popular culture than the Asgardians. So any film would have to somehow balance between keeping true to the source material while not having Herc be mythological Hercules. He would have be uniquely Marvel.
2. Hercules would have to be separated from Steve Reeves.
Marvel's Hercules look-wise is almost identical to Steve Reeves. He is still one of the most famous versions of Hercules. Any Marvel Hercules' film would have to separate itself from Steve Reeves without feeling like it was either a knock off, parody, or any other way related to it.
3. He would have to be something other than a second-string strongman.
Comic Hercules has sometimes suffered from being a second-string strongman behind Thor and Hulk. Each is about as strong as he is and uniquely Marvel. Each has established themselves in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Hercules has to fit into the films universe, or any other with those two, without coming off as redundant.
4. The greatest challenge...overcome the string of b-grade Hercules films that have tainted his image in the past.
Films based on Greek myth and Hercules specifically have suffered from being either b-grade or badly written. The original Steve Reeves' films are not too bad, but many of the follow ups leave something to be desired. Lou Ferrigno starred in a couple of incredibly cheesy, yet surprisingly watchable, films in the eighties. Hercules: TLJ was fun, but again campy. The Hercules character has appeared in a few minor roles in other questionable films ranging from made for t.v. specials or new classics (extreme sarcasm) like Immortals. This year saw two Hercules films. The heavily negatively reviewed film The Legend of Hercules and the better received yet still Hercules, which is one of the better if not Hercules film since the Steve Reeves original. While Marvel's Hercules sometimes plays the part of the buffoon and a film can be a comedy I don't think it would be a good idea for it to be too much of a comedy because people would not want to go to see it. B-films tend to have mixed results at the box office.
thoughts?
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