DC’s Plastic Man reportedly becoming a female-led movie under new screenwriter

Warner Bros.’ movie adaptation of DC’s Plastic Man is moving forward albeit with a new screenwriter and a new direction.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Black List writer Cat Vasko was brought on to work on the project, which was launched two years ago with Amanda Idoko on board to write a comedic action-adventure script in the vein of Deadpool.

According to THR, however, Warner Bros. is bringing Vasko on board to reframe the movie as a female-led venture, while noting she's known for "writing strong female stories." The project is still in the early stages of development, so no news yet on whether the title of the movie will change or when it will go into production.

Vasko was on The Black List — an annual list of the hottest screenplays in Hollywood — in 2014 for her script Situation Comedy. In 2017 she was also hired to pen the adaptation of Queen of the Air, a story about trapeze artist Lillian Leitzel starring Margot Robbie (according to The Wrap). Before being hired for Plastic Man, she also worked on an untitled fairy tale project for Disney+. 

In the comics, Plastic Man is — as his name suggests — a man, Eel O’Brian, who became completely malleable (a substance with high plasticity, if you will) after he got soaked in a chemical liquid during a botched robbery. The character has had a long history in DC comics, and was at times even a member of the Justice League. He’s also known to crack a joke or two while fighting crime.

While DC doesn't have a Plastic Woman character, the comic book line does have Elasti-Girl, who is part of the Doom Patrol and has shown up on the HBO Max show, Titans.

For the moment at least, it sounds like our Dream Casting pick of John Mulaney as Plastic Man is way off.