Eastbound & Down Writer Developing Hench Comic Adaptation For Danny McBride

Warner Bros has acquired rights to the 64-page black and white graphic novel Hench, which they plan to develop as comic book comedy starring Danny McBride. Eastbound & Down writer Shawn Harwell will write the screenplay. McBride will play a football player who suffers a career-ending injury and resorts to working as henchman to a successful villain. Sounds like a fun concept, and I could definitely see McBride in this role.

Here is the official synopsis from the publisher:

The fine line between hero and villain is just another of longtime super-villain henchman Mike Fulton’s many scars. Now, faced with a terrible choice that could mean life and death for heroes, villains, his family, and himself, Mike ponders just how his normal life went so crazy. Gripping adventure, powerful biography and loving homage to superhero comics, HENCH is a new graphic novel from writer Adam Beechen, artist Manny Bello, and publisher AiT/Planet Lar.

Here is an excerpt from Adam Beechen’s interview with CBR explaining more about the book:

“The story of Mike’s professional life is told by Mike largely through flashbacks, brought on when Mike finds himself at a very serious crossroads as he faces an incredibly vicious superhero, during a job gone bad. As an ordinary guy in an extraordinary world, Mike’s grounded by real-world concerns. The major players in Mike’s life are his wife and son, Jennifer and Cory, respectively, and his best friend, Randy. But along the way, we also meet a heaping helping of the superheroes, supervillains and other career henchmen that populate this particular world. They were a blast to come up with, and [artist] Manny Bello did a spectacular job of visualizing them. They’ve got names like Pluribus and Libertina, Laughing Boy, the Cosmonaut, Half-Life, Phenomena, Mr. Magnificent, Hellbent, the Little Green Man, Pain Freak, Pencil Neck, the Necrobat, the Still of the Night, and the Red Baroness. If you notice that I didn’t specify who’s a hero and who’s a villain, that’s because hopefully readers will come out of the book with a different perspective on what those words mean.”

The book is available at select comic book shops or on Amazon for around $10.