Samuel L. Jackson is set to play the villain in the upcoming movie based on Will Eisner's The Spirit which will be directed by Frank Miller.

Frank Miller, fresh off the double whammy of Sin City and 300, is gathering steam for another graphic-novel-turned-film adventure, The Spirit, which he's also directing (all on his own this time) although this time it's not his comic to begin with - it was originally Will Eisner's creation. The news today is that Samuel L. Jackson is in talks to play the villain of the piece, The Octopus.

Jackson, however, would be playing The Octupus, a meek lab assistant who reinvents himself as a psychotic nightmare who kills anyone unfortunate enough to see his face. Yup, he's a supervillain most often recognised by his dapper white gloves, and his "tentacles" (metaphorical rather than Doc Ock-esque) reach into every aspect of crime in the comic's Central City.

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