Last fall, Cinematical head honcho Erik Davis referred to screenwriter Justin Marks as "the guy they brought in to f*ck up He-Man." At the time, I wholeheartedly agreed with the boss man. But as of today, I'm changing my mind. If the script review over at Latino Review is to be trusted, Marks has done anything but f*ck up the adaptation of our beloved '80s cartoon series/action figure line. El Mayimbe has read the latest draft of Grayskull: Masters of the Universe, and he's graded the text an A+. And if that's not good enough for you, here's a sweet summation: "GRAYSKULL is LORD OF THE RINGS meets THE MATRIX and a little BATMAN BEGINS thrown in for good measure."

I don't know about you, but that sounds awesome. It certainly sounds better than both the 1987 He-Man adaptation, Masters of the Universe and the 1982 non-adaptation The Beastmaster, which I always thought of as a pre-He-Man He-Man movie (anyone else ever notice that Beastmaster 2: Through the Portal of Time has the same plot as Masters of the Universe?). Of course, neither of those movies would be hard to beat. Warner Bros. and producer Joel Silver could hire a monkey to write a better script.

Unless you're hoping to avoid spoilers, head over to Latino Review to read more praise and plot information for Grayskull (and weep for the omission of Orko). And after getting pumped up about that movie, keep in mind that Marks also wrote or co-wrote the scripts for the upcoming Green Arrow (formerly Supermax: Green Arrow), which IESB.net just reported is looking at a possible summer 2009 release date, Voltron and Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li (for which we shared another Latino Review script review last year).

Remember Supermax, David S.Goyer's Green Arrow movie? If you've forgotten, don't beat yourself up -- I think it has vanished off the radar for most people in the last year, simply because there are too many superheroes to keep track of.

Goyer plans to break the superhero mold with his Green Arrow movie -- rather than the same old origin story, he intends to send the green-clad hero to prison after being framed for a crime. Stripped of his identity, he must team up with the supervillains he helped put away in order to regain his freedom. The Shawshank Redemption with superpowers! (Here's our original story if you want to read all the fine points.)

According to Latino Review, who read a copy of the script, the movie will be chock full of lesser DC Comics villains: Merlyn the archer, the Tattooed Man, the Aryan Nation (comprised of Iron Cross, Heatmonger and Backlash), Japanese assassin Shock Trauma, female shape-shifter Gemini, Icicle ... and a bunch more (get the full list over at LR).

But possibly, more intriguing than all the obscure characters is the possibility that Joker, Riddler and Lex Luthor are all inmates of the Supermax prison. All three appear in the script, but at this point are only cameos. I can't imagine all of these villains are going to appear on one screen, do you? And would that be the equivalent of superhero overdose?

If I asked you to name a half-dozen Marvel characters besides Spider-Man, Wolverine, and The Hulk, you'd probably have no problem. But if I asked you to rattle off six DC Comics superheroes besides Superman and Batman, your response might sound a little like this: "Well, The Flash, of course. And Wonder Woman. Oh, Aquaman! Um ... Green Arrow and Green Lantern, I suppose..." and then I'd rudely interrupt you with mentions of Hawkman and Martian Manhunter before you started shaking your head in either confusion or disbelief in my nerdiness. (I can never tell which is which.)

I know all about the Justice League movie problems and the inability to get Wonder Woman flying, but really: After seeing how well-received Iron Man was -- and after hearing about Marvel's plans regarding The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America, and The Avengers -- I'm starting to feel a little bad for DC Comics' movie division. But here's the thing: As a character of popular culture, Iron Man (born 1963) is not exactly a Spider-Man or even close to a Superman -- and still Marvel and Paramount were able to bang a really excellent blockbuster out of the guy. (And let's not forget that a relatively obscure Marvel character called Blade pretty much kick-started this comic-flick renaissance.) Does anyone doubt that a character like The Flash could have similar results? Given the right cast and crew, I'm thinking The Flash could be one hell of a fun flick. So let's get moving already!

Let this be an inspiration to all you aspiring screenwriters out there. 22 year-old newcomer Justin Marks has been selected by writer/director/producer David Goyer to write the screenplay for Goyer's proposed Green Arrow movie, Super Max. (Erik brought you news of the project here and here). Marks has never had a feature film produced before, but has recently been linked to Voltron. "I love finding new people out of nowhere. I love working with young talent, whether it be actors or writers," says Goyer. The script will center on DC Comics hero Green Arrow, who is wrongly placed in a maximum security prison for supervillains, including villains he previously put there. So now he doesn't only have to worry about taking showers and getting stabbed with toothbrushes, he's got laser-eyes and world domination schemes to contend with.

Goyer is probably best known for writing Batman Begins, and he also did some work on the upcoming sequel, The Dark Knight (he's not saying whether Two-Face will be one of the villains). Goyer does have some non-superhero projects in the works as well. He co-wrote the script for Doug Liman's upcoming Jumper, which will star Hayden Christensen and Samuel L. Jackson. He is overseeing the script for Here, There Be Dragons, an adaptation of James A. Owens' book, which imagines authors J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S Lewis, and Charles Williams taking a journey together. He is also working on a remake of David Cronenberg's mind-blowing (literally!) horror classic Scanners, which he is considering directing, as he did the "teen supernatural thriller" The Invisible, which will be in theaters next Friday.

According to Wizard Entertainment, David Goyer -- fresh off a not-so-successful stint working for Warner Bros. on a big-screen version of The Flash -- has switched gears and moved onto another DC Comics hero, the Green Arrow. However, what he's pitched the studio is unlike any superhero film we've seen before -- that's right, Goyer's Green Arrow tale is more like DCU meets Fox's Prison Break. Pic will apparently center on the Green Arrow being wrongfully accused of a crime; he's then sent to a Super Max prison, stripped of his secret identity and forced to live amongst a slew of the same DCU villains he helped put away. In the meantime, while he's off defending himself, Arrow must find a way to trust these bad guys so that he can use their help to escape.

Goyer, who's developing the project with Justin Marx, says he also plans to tie in a graphic novel or miniseries. I assume something like that would help set up the origins of these villains, who they were before and how they wound up in this Super Max lock up. Keep in mind, none of these villains will appear in costume -- like Green Arrow, they've been stripped of their identities and forced to use their real names. Goyer explains, "We've populated the prison with all sorts of B and C villains from the DC Universe. For the fans, there will be all sorts of characters the hardcore comic book junkies will know, but they're all going to be there under their human names and no one is wearing a costume, but there will be a lot of characters with powers and things like that." Maybe it's because I'm, like, an uber geek when it comes to Fox's Prison Break, but I think this is one of the best superhero-themed ideas I've heard in a long time. It's different, it's unique and it will be fun to watch these guys do battle as real men without masks. What do you think about it? And who are some of the villains you'd like to see Goyer include?