Adam McKay is no stranger to superheroes or comic book adaptations. He worked on the script for Ant-Man, he's working on the sequel Ant-Man and the Wasp, and he long circled an adaptation of Garth Ennis’ The Boys. However, it looks like his directing debut on a superhero film will be for an adaptation of the Mark Waid comic Irredeemable.

According to Deadline, McKay has signed on to helm an adaptation of the book, which is about “the Plutonian, the world’s greatest superhero until he began heartlessly slaughtering the population of Earth, at least those who defy him. It falls to a superhero group known as the Paradigm to stop his rampage. They were former colleagues of the Plutonian, they’ve all got problems of their own, and none of them is nearly as powerful as the mass-murdering maniac holding the world hostage. In Clarice-Hannibal Lecter fashion, the Paradigm in desperation turns to a famous supervillain for help; it might be the only way to stop the carnage.”

This sounds like a fun premise, and definitely swims in the darkness that McKay has shown he can handle with The Big Short. However, I’m a bit pessimistic on the choice for writing the script. Screenwriting duties have fallen to Tommy Wirkola who did the poorly-received Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters and the Nazi zombie Dead Snow movies. But I have faith in McKay, and I’m eager to see what he does with this material, especially since he’ll be free from the superhero confines being set by Disney/Marvel, Warner Bros/DC, and Fox.