Posted in: Comics, HBO, Max, Movies, TV | Tagged: booster gold
Booster Gold Creator Dan Jurgens Puts It All Into Proper Perspective
Booster Gold creator Dan Jurgens offered a “big picture” perspective regarding what’s gone on with the character before and with DC Studios.
Article Summary
- DC Studios is not moving forward with David Jenkins’ Booster Gold pilot, stalling the live-action series again.
- Dan Jurgens summed up Booster Gold’s screen struggle perfectly: “the most Booster Gold thing ever.”
- Zack Stentz revealed he also wrote a Booster Gold movie in 2016, but it was rejected as too “90s action comedy.”
- James Gunn had said Booster Gold was still in development, making the latest DC Studios update a sharp turn.
As we head into the fourth anniversary of its first announcement, we learned on Friday that it doesn’t look like we’ll be seeing a live-action Booster Gold series from DC Studios any time soon. Despite some promising news from DC Studios co-CEO and writer/director James Gunn and pilot scriptwriter David Jenkins (Our Flag Means Death) over the past few months, Jenkins posted that the decision was made not to move forward with his pilot script. Aside from Donald Faison‘s (Scrubs) brief run as the Dan Jurgens-created character during the final season of Arrowverse’s DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, the journey to bring Booster Gold from the page to the screen hasn’t been easy. No one knows that more than screenwriter Zack Stentz (Thor, X-Men: First Class, The Flash, Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous), who took a stab at bringing the character to the big screen back around 2016. Stentz offered a reminder of that shortly after the news hit (more on that below), but it was Jurgens’ response to Stentz’s post that put in all in proper perspective: “In many ways, this entire saga is the most Booster Gold thing ever.”
Last summer, we learned that Jenkins was attached to write the pilot for Booster Gold. In addition, it was reported that plans were to have Jenkins serve as showrunner if the pilot was given a series order. For a long time after, things on the development side had gotten quiet – at least, publicly. In March, Jenkins responded on social media to reports that he had departed the project, posting, “As far as I know, it’s still in the pipeline.” When asked if Booster Gold was still in development, amid rumors that it and Paradise Lost had been canceled, Gunn made it clear in April that it was quite the opposite. “BG is in development. PL is in extreme development,” Gunn offered in response. In June, things were beginning to look hopeful when Jenkins dropped some very good news on BlueSky. “Just handed the Booster Gold pilot in. I love it. One of my favorite pilot scripts,” including a blue heart and a gold heart.
“All my sympathy to Mr. Jenkins over his version not going forward-Booster is such a great character. As some of you know, I wrote a feature back in 2016, a couple of regimes ago. Ironically, my version was deemed too much of a “90s action comedy” that didn’t fit in with 2010s DC.”
Back in 2023, Jurgens shared some thoughts after the news hit that a series take on the character was part of the first wave of DCU content on the way from DC Studios, taking to Twitter to tell Booster’s real-life “origin story” and how a character like Booster is “more relevant now than when issue #1 appeared in 1985.” Here’s a look at the first of Jurgens’s five tweets, sharing how he pitched Booster to DC Comics Artist & Editor Dick Giordano and how Giordano had faith in his pitch to help him bring the character to life:
Really appreciate the reaction to the Booster Gold HBO Max news. Seems like just yesterday that I sat down with Dick Giordano (1984) to explain the idea of a time-traveling hero who played the celeb/media game, trying to make up for the crimes and mistakes he’d made.
Also went through the humorous aspects, explaining that unlike the rest of the DCU (where all the heroes were bland and perfect), that Booster would try to do the right thing along the way. But, if he happened to make a few bucks in the process…what’s wrong with that?
And, while Booster would generally solve the problem, it’d be awkward. Superman catches a crashing plane and lands it at the airport. Booster clips a few buildings along the way, damaging them and the plane and puts it the middle of town, creating a three day traffic jam.
Everyone survives, but the results aren’t perfect. It’s the way things go for most of us, sometimes often, in our own lives, which is part of BG’s charm. With the way social media and celebrity culture have grown, he’s more relevant now than when issue #1 appeared in 1985.
I didn’t have anything written up. Not even a sketch. Just a vision, and Dick went for it on the spot. Said, “Give me something on paper for legal so we can get contracts started,” and with a handshake, told me I could start working.
Great man and glad he saw the potential!
And here’s a look back at Jurgens’ tweet expressing his support for seeing Booster Gold make the leap from the pages of the comic book to the small screen:
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