Is Avatar ’s Sam Worthington going to be the new Dan Dare?

Sam ( Avatar / Clash Of The Titans ) Worthington has told MTV News that he’s in line to play Dan Dare in a movie that would be based on the recent reboot of the character’s adventures written by Garth Ennis for Virgin Comics. However, Worthington stresses that the project is in its very early stages.

"We’re seeing how they're going to develop it and where they want it to go. I'm at that stage now where I want to do movies where I get my $16 worth*. Something like Dan Dare, there was something in the reboot by Garth Ennis that was amazing.”

And if you’re thinking, “Hey, they can’t get an Aussie to plat such a quintessentially British comic book character as Dan Dare,” then it’s worth pointing out that Worthington was born was in Surrey, but moved to Perth in Western Australia when he was very young. So that’s sorta okay, then.

The Garth Ennis Dan Dare was a seven-issue mini-series with art by Gary Erskine published in 2008. Virgin also acquired the film, television and video game rights. The series is set after the original strip. Space Fleet and the UN have collapsed in the aftermath of a nuclear war between China and America but Britain has survived thanks to defensive shields invented by Professor Peabody, and is a world power again with the Royal Navy taking Space Fleet's role. And yeah, the Mekon’s still in it.

* We think he means that he wants to be in movies that are worth asking people to part with $16 for a ticket to see, rather than that’s what his current fee is…