Sci-Fi Film and Television Developments

Wild Cards

10/28/11 - Syfy Films and Universal Pictures has acquired the screen rights to Wild Cards, a superhero anthology edited, co-created and co-written by George R.R. Martin, according to The Hollywood Reporter.  Melinda Snodgrass will write the screenplay. Martin and Snodgrass will executive produce.  Wild Cards is a series of books and stories set in a shared universe where an alien virus has been unleashed over New York City. Those who survived were turned into either a class of beings named Jokers, mostly deformed creatures, (or more rarely) Aces, who have special powers.  The first book was published in 1987.  "We had a love of comics books and superheroes that we grew up on," Martin said. "But we approached the material differently. We wanted to do it in a grittier, more adult manner than what we were seeing in the '80s. It's something that many other people have been doing in the decades ever since."  One of the unique aspects of the books ­ (the series has changed publishers several times, it is now on volume 22) is the way the characters evolve. Some age, some marry, some die, new ones are introduced, building a tapestry of stories.

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