Kevin Smith gets another stab at The Green Hornet with animated series
Steve Granitz/WireImage; Everett Collection
The Green Hornet is ripe for a return, indeed.
While Universal is reportedly developing a feature-length film The Green Hornet and Kato, Kevin Smith is working on his own animated TV series from the Peanuts owners at WildBrain.
Back in the day —2004 to be precise — Smith was once hired by Miramax to write a Green Hornet movie. That ultimately fell through and Seth Rogen took over to write and star. But Smith ended up creating a comic book series that he described at the time as "the Hornet movie I’d make if I was making it today."
His new take on the material will be set in modern-day Century City and focus on the grown-up son of the original Green Hornet and the grown-up daughter of the original Kato, who are picking up their parents' monikers. Familiar elements, including the "Black Beauty" high-tech car, will be incorporated.
In a statement, Smith describes the series as "a tale of two Hornets — past and future — that spans generations and draws inspiration from a lifetime spent watching classic cartoons and amazing animation like Batman: The Animated Series, Heavy Metal, and Super Friends."
Smith is staying in the animation space as he's also currently working on an anime series for Netflix around He-Man called Masters of the Universe.
The Green Hornet originated as a radio series in the 1930s from creator George W. Trendle. By day, the wealthy Britt Reid served as the publisher of the fictional newspaper The Daily Sentinel. By night, he donned a green mask battled criminals with his sidekick Kato. Bruce Lee famously starred Kato in a 1966 series adaptation opposite Van Williams as the Green Hornet.
Amasia Entertainment picked up the rights to the movie franchise this year and quickly partnered with Universal to begin work on a new feature.
Deadline was the first to report the news.
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