I’m assuming, if you’re reading this, that you already have some awareness of yesterday’s major developments regarding the ownership of Valiant. If not, have a read of this official press release and this between-the-lines take from Bleeding Cool then we’ll reconvene. Don’t worry, I can wait.

All up to speed? Well then. Bloody hell, right? I mean, bloody flipping hell…

OK, so first things first. I started this blog from the perspective of a film and TV fan who had quickly fallen in love with Valiant and saw the massive potential in bringing those offbeat characters and intriguing stories to screens big and small. This announcement changes nothing about that, and in fact suggests I will have a lot more information to collate and analyse in the coming weeks and months. But nonetheless I’m heartbroken. Utterly demoralised and defeated. Sure, I wanted to see Valiant’s IP making its way into film and TV but… not like this.

Let me be clear – I wouldn’t be a Valiant fan if it wasn’t for Dinesh Shamdasani. I’m too young to have been there for the original Valiant universe (though I do intend to go back and check it out one day) so it’s Dinesh’s labour-of-love reboot that swiftly and decisively captured my interest. It was everything I wanted as a latecomer to superhero comics – a universe that was smart, tonally diverse, big enough to be worth the effort but small enough to not seem overwhelming and with an obvious commitment to quality control. The action, the humour, the moral and political complexity, the flat out weirdness at times. It was just what I wanted, what I craved. After a couple of trade paperbacks I was fan, after a few more I was an evangelist, pushing the books into the hands of nonplussed friends and relatives and saying “trust me, this is special.”

Dinesh is what made it special. It was his vision, his commitment to quality, his eye for talent that made VEI what it was. And now, with this corporate takeover, the universe he and his colleagues have nurtured with such care and fannish devotion has been ripped from their hands. I cannot and will not look for silver linings here. Not today.

However, this blog is not really about the comics, even though without them it simply wouldn’t exist. Despite my frustration and concern with regards to the future of Valiant as a comics publisher, I will do my best to look critically at what this news means for the world of Valiant on screen because, as the title suggests, that’s the real mission here, and from that perspective alone, there’s a lot to unpack.

First, let’s look at the press release, specifically the quote attributed to Dan Mintz, which states:

“Our priority is to build upon Valiant’s vast universe of characters from a filmmaker’s perspective,” says Mintz. “I’m excited to immerse Valiant’s fans well beyond the stories we tell cinematically — from publishing to gaming to theme parks and beyond.”

It’s clear then, that this move is likely to accelerate plans to develop film and TV projects. Not just that but games (a word that must surely cause a horrible sense of deja vu for OG Valiant fans who remember the Acclaim days) and even theme parks. I mean… talk about putting the cart before the horse.

But this quote is key. Dan Mintz is first and foremost a movie guy. The press release calls him a filmmaker, but I feel like that’s maybe playing fast and loose with the word. His expertise is specifically in brokering deals and packaging films for the Chinese market. Remember how Iron Man 3 had its own special scenes shot for Chinese audiences? That was Dan Mintz.

As such, his focus is clearly not on the comics, but on movies and TV. In fact, Valiant is not referred to as a comics publisher until the fourth paragraph of the press release. The emphasis is on Valiant as an entertainment brand and a library of characters. Then there’s this:

“Current Valiant movie and television projects in development include the previously announced “Bloodshot” and “Harbinger” feature films from Sony Pictures, to be produced in partnership with Original Film; the television show “Quantum and Woody,” produced in partnership with the Russo Brothers’ Getaway Productions; and a Dr. Mirage television series with CBS Studios and The CW Network. Additional feature film projects, including “Shadowman,” “Archer & Armstrong,” “Eternal Warrior,” “X-O Manowar” and others yet to be disclosed publicly, are also well underway.”

These are all projects that I’ve covered elsewhere on this blog, but it’s interesting to note that the same provisional slate is intact. Nothing’s changed, nothing’s off the table, and the fact that they’re mentioned in this press release suggest Mintz and co will be very active in pursuing them in the year ahead. This updated article, for example, seems to already confirm that the Dr Mirage TV series has been greenlit (though I think they may be reading too much into the press release, intentionally or otherwise).

In fact, there is only one project that is notably absent from the press release – Ninjak vs the Valiant Universe. Now, I made a conscious choice not to publicly speculate on this blog regarding the status of Ninjak vs the Valiant Universe after the hype-train was unceremoniously derailed last summer. Something was up, but nobody at the time had a clue as to what exactly was going on, and Valiant themselves were being uncharacteristically tight-lipped. No use getting embroiled in that.

The first issue of the tie-in miniseries came out a few weeks ago as planned, and Dinesh even took the opportunity to tweet out a really cool promo shot of X-O Manowar last month, but it seemed as though a major spanner was in the works as over a year after the initial teaser we were no closer to having any idea when or how fans would ever get a chance to see the actual series.

Now, in the light of recent developments, I think we finally have our answer. The DMG takeover is chiefly motivated by a desire to push Valiant hard into the world of film and TV, quite possibly with a view to building a brand new core audience for their characters in China, and a low budget series of officially licensed fan films have no place within that vision. I would like nothing more to be wrong about this, but as things stand I don’t think Ninjak vs the Valiant Universe will ever get an official release.

As for the future of this blog, I make no promises. On the one hand, I still love these characters, these stories. I want to see them brought to life, I want them to find new and bigger audiences and I will undoubtedly be following those developments closely. But on the other, I’m pretty disgusted with how things have panned out and right now I do not have faith in the people calling the shots. If that continues I’m not sure I’ll have the passion needed to maintain this blog. Time will tell.