Rob Liefeld is best known as the creator of Deadpool. However, he's responsible for a host of comic book characters over the years, and now some of them are headed to Netflix. The streaming service/movie studio has reportedly signed a seven-figure deal for the rights to Liefeld's Extreme Universe characters, and will begin to develop a series of feature films that will include connective tissue between them. Netflix now has its own comic book cinematic universe.
Rob Liefeld's Extreme Universe covers more than 50 characters with names like Brigade, Bloodstrike, Cybrid, Re-Gex, Bloodwulf and Kaboom. According to Deadline, Akiva Goldsman will head a "high-end" writers room, similar to the one he's in charge of for the Transformers franchise, that will put together ideas for the forthcoming films. Liefeld apparently had another deal in the works with a different production company, but when it fell through, Netflix stepped up and put the deal together.
Netflix's move into the world of original programming is nothing new, but with movies like Bright and The Cloverfield Paradox, the company has been taking steps toward more broad appeal "blockbuster" style movies, and this is a big move in that direction. Clearly, Netflix has already had success in the comic book space with its series of Marvel television properties, but now they have their own comic book characters to play with. With Marvel and DC holding the vast majority of properties in that space, there isn't that much left for anybody else who wants to get in on the action, but picking up a massive number of characters and being able to put "From the creator of Deadpool" on your first teaser trailer, will go a long way to helping Netflix establish this new universe.
These characters certainly aren't household names, but Netflix has had little trouble making new movies and TV series successful, and the audience will almost certainly be willing to give more superheroes a chance. Especially characters that will have a few things in common with Deadpool. Liefeld uses the same sort of edge with the Extreme characters that he did when he created Deadpool, so fans of the merc with a mouth are likely to find something to enjoy with these characters as well.
It's far too early to have any idea when we might see any of these films but I'd expect Netflix is looking to hire writers for this new writers room right now. The studio reportedly greenlit the sequel to Bright before the first movie was actually released, so they clearly aren't being hesitant when it comes to moving forward with these larger budget films. And once the movies start to arrive, fans will be able to binge the entire cinematic universe, as every film will be right there on Netflix waiting to be watched.
