Stan Lee, Disney set projects
Titles are 'Nick Ratchet,' 'Blaze,' 'Tigress'
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The projects are all based on stories by Lee.
"Nick Ratchet" will be directed by Richard LaGravenese ("P.S. I Love You") from a screenplay he is writing. Larry Jacobson and Sonny Grosso are in talks to produce.
"Blaze" is being penned by Gary Goldman ("Next").
"Tigress" is being written by newcomer Zoe Green. State Street Pictures' Robert Teitel and George Tillman will produce. Film is not the same as a previously announced project titled "Tigress" that Lee is developing with Michelle Rodriguez attached to star. That project is based on a "Conan the Barbarian" villainess.
The studio is keeping plot details for all three projects under wraps.
"You have no idea how frustrating that is for me, because I love these characters so much and want to talk about them," Lee said.
Lee has co-created a number of iconic comicbook characters that have spawned feature films including Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, Iron Man, the Hulk and Daredevil. But "Nick Ratchet," "Blaze" and "Tigress" will feature new characters that have never appeared in Lee's comicbooks and are being created to debut on the bigscreen first rather than in print.
He said "it's not unlikely" that the projects will eventually generate comicbooks. "You either have a great comicbook and it becomes a great movie. Or you have a great movie that becomes a great comicbook," he added. "These things have a natural progression."
He and Champion formed POW! in 2002. Last summer, they inked an exclusive first-look deal with Disney. "Nick Ratchet," "Blaze" and "Tigress" mark the first projects under that deal.
