The time has come: Hourman is the next DC Comics hero headed to the big screen

Warner Bros. and DC have decreed the time is right for Hourman to check the clock and get busy starring in his own feature film. The old-school DC comics character has reportedly made an appointment with the box office to expand DC’s growing lineup of big-screen comic book crossovers.

Deadline reports a new movie based on the character — who can attain superhuman strength, but only for a limited time — has been set by Warner Bros. to be produced by Chernin Entertainment, the same company behind the modern-day movie revival of the Planet of the Apes franchise. Though Hourman has shown up on TV recently at The CW’s Stargirl and has appeared in various incarnations in the comics over the years, it’s not yet known which version DC has in mind to bring to theaters.

Reported to be writing the new film is the duo of Gavin James and Neil Widener, who previously have been attached to pen screenplays for Amblin’s adaptation of Michael Crichton’s Micro, as well as New Line’s upcoming San Andreas 2.

Created by Ken Fitch and artist Bernard Baily and first introduced in 1940’s Adventure Comics #48, the original Hourman was Rex Tyler, a chemist who synthesizes a supernaturally-powerful substance called “Miraclo” into pill (and later transdermal) form.

Possessing no superpowers of his own, Rex (and subsequent Hourman heroes Rick Tyler, Rex’s son; as well as the android-alias Matthew Tyler) could tap into an “Hour of Power” of mega-powerful attributes, stopping speeding bullets and even surviving underwater with a single dose of Miraclo. The catch, at least in the original Hourman comics, is that those effects wear off when the golden hour ends.

On Stargirl, Rex Tyler and Rick Tyler are respectively played by Lou Ferrigno Jr. and Cameron Gellman. The CW first brought Hourman into its extended Arrowverse in DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, where he was played by Patrick J. Adams. Deadline’s report notes that DC has previously considered an Hourman TV spinoff series, though that so far hasn’t materialized at The CW. The character also has appeared over the years in a number of small-screen crossovers with members of the Justice League.

There’s no early word on when Hourman could show up in theaters, so we’ll keep our hourglass handy when it's time for fresh updates.