By Rick Marshall,splashpage.mtv
November 5,2008
When “Wanted” screenwriter Chris Morgan first helped bring to life the ultra-violent story about a world where supervillains had kicked out the good guys, he had some pretty impressive source material in Mark Millar and J.G. Jones’ critically praised graphic novel. While there won’t be the same ready-made reference for “Wanted 2,” the writer told MTV that shouldn’t be cause for concern among fans. And he should know, since he’s the one writing it.
“Yes, I will be writing it,” confirmed Morgan. “I’m actually leaving this conversation with you to go to a meeting with the director, Timur [Bekmambetov], and we’re talking about the story.”
According to Morgan, Universal Pictures is in the final stages of negotiating a deal with Millar for a sequel to the June 2008 film, which was a box-office success despite diverging significantly from the story in the graphic novel. Millar hasn’t given any indication that he’ll be penning a print follow-up to “Wanted,” but as with other projects adapted from his work, the comic book writer is expected to take an active role in shaping the over-arching story.
“As far as I know, the studio is finishing their deal with Mark [Millar], and then we’re all going to get together and collaborate,” said Morgan, a longtime comics fan. “And that’s something I’m very excited about.”
As for the plot of the second film, Morgan acknowledged the difficulty of scripting the sequel to a film in which most of the supporting cast is, well… dead. While Terence Stamp has teased that his character, Pekwarsky, will be making a return in “Wanted 2,” one of the only other characters to survive the first film was the film’s lead, Wesley Gibson (played by James McCavoy).
“That is the challenge here,” laughed Morgan, “but the point is to continue the journey that Wes started in the first film. Wherever he ended up at the end of the film, now it’s time to move him forward.”
“There’s a natural journey that Wes needs to take,” continued Morgan, adding that the sequel “is going to be opened up to be more global.”
However, Morgan was quick to add that the film is very much in the early stages of story development at this point, “so anything I tell you about is likely to change.”
