Billy Zane wants to āpass the torchā in another Phantom movie, reprising his 1996 superhero turn that was, in some ways, ahead of its time.
1996ās
The Phantom is a movie that enjoys at least a bit of a cult following. Had it released at another point in time, it may even have amassed a wider audience upon release, perhaps spawned sequels or (wishful thinking on my part), become the first step in a
Defenders Of The Earth live-action film. A project that would have united āThe Ghost who Walksā with Flash Gordon, Mandrake and more to form an
Avengers Assemble-style movie based on the Saturday morning cartoon.
Either way, a quarter century since the filmās release,
The Phantom still has its fans, as evidenced by HMVās
re-release of the film via its āPremium Classicsā Blu-ray line, last year. Itās entirely possible that the movie was a little too far ahead of its time. A little too dark for 1996, sandwiched by Joel Schumacherās garishly neon, cartoony
Batman films,
The Phantom would have felt much more at home had it released five years later, sitting alongside the likes of
Blade and
X-Men.
The filmās star, Billy Zane, agrees, and has been touting the possibility of reviving the character for a legacy sequel, where he would āpass the torchā to a younger version of the character.
As Zane puts it, āto be honest, a
Phantom return would be quite interesting. 20 years later, itās a father-to-son business and a bit of a hand-off. And I dug him because he didnāt have superpowers, really. It was just kind of super-humane. Again, that moral compass could be a nice reminder. So, right out of the comic universe, Iād say that character would be a hoot.ā
Zane originally signed up to reprise his role in two more sequels, but that never came to pass, a fate which also befell attempts in 2014 to get a reboot off the ground. With Paramount, along with every other streaming platform, presumably looking for IP to revive, perhaps the time is ripe for
The Phantomās return? Weāll have to wait and see.
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