Summary
The Russo Brothers want to title the upcomingHerculesremake film ‘Hades’and tell theHerculesstory from the villain’s perspective, according to a report byThe Direct. This is an encouraging development and would introduce a goldmine of creativity and cinematic merit to Disney’s humdrum recycling of IP.
Hercules, of all classicDisneyanimations, though, is the one that actually deserves a remake, which would benefit enormously from a live-action realization of the hand-drawn classic (imagineGladiator 2with a great plot, brighter colors, and none of the melodrama).101 DalmatiansandCinderellaboth got their live-action remakes before their villain spin-offs.Hercules, above all, deserves the same treatment.
The Russo Brothers Want A Live-Action Hades Film As Opposed To AHerculesRemake
Consider this: maybeHerculesisalreadya Hades film. The charismatic and zinging underworld god steals the opening scene of the film, schmoozing attendees of baby Hercules’ Olympian baby shower with the pizzazz of a Hollywood talent scout (and boy, does he know how to pick ‘em). He was in danger of being upstaged byDanny DeVito’s Philoctetes, but Hades still reigns as the film’s standout support character.
The Russo Brothers understandably want to take some artistic license with Disney’sHerculesstory and give it the villain feature treatment. Admittedly, the Russo Brothers have done villains quite well historically, namely with Thanos, one of cinema’s all-time great antagonists. But, as far as Disney’s history is concerned, the studio has generally followed a particular set of standards and practices when debuting a villain-centric live-action spin: a traditional remake first, and then a villain spin-off.
For instance,Maleficentwas a successful but critically middling follow-up for Disney, fleshing out Cinderella’s villain and lending a malicious perspective to an overtly flowery classic tale. It was a decidedly ‘meh’ sideshow that detracted from the glory of its source material.101 Dalmatiansentered the fold with 2021’s Cruella, which was received fairly well critically with a 75% Rotten Tomatoes score, but otherwise played out like an elaborately-scripted feature-length fashion show with a couple of show-stealing models.
That is precisely the danger that Disney is appropriately wary of with Hercules without first submitting a bona fide modernization of the original work. It should be acknowledged that the Russo Brothers, while fantastic directors of Marvel films, are not bulletproof (see:The Electric State). Let’s sayHades’release garners terrible, or even so-so reviews, negatively affecting brand value and ticket sales. What would that mean for Disney when they inevitably seek to produce a traditional live-action remake? Nothing good. For this reason alone, Hercules deserves to go the distance once again.
However,HerculesSimply Is Ripe For A Live-Action Remake
There’s a particular fight scene in Disney’sHerculeswhich incorporates CGI into the film’s conversely hand-drawn animation. In the bookThe Art of Hercules: The Chaos of Creation, according toIndieWire, the film’s head of CG said they decided to computer-generate the Hydra monster due to complexity and dimensionality. He said they “wanted to push the boundaries of what a multi-headed beast could be.”
This scene always stood out among the rest of the film, not only for its stylistic and technical departures, but for its heightened sense of scale, especially when those heads start being lopped off and multiplied. The Hydra fight scene will be the crown jewel of live-actionHercules, and it just wouldn’t be satisfying unless we saw it from Hercules’ perspective as he stares into the towering faces of insurmountable odds.
The original film used CGI to accurately depict that immense scope when animating the Hydra battle. Now, the live-actionHercules(and we’re sticking with ‘Hercules’ here, not Hades) will definitely feature real humans and practical sets and effects. But, the movie will surely take advantage of modern technology to realize those big fight scenes between gods, monsters and Herculean labours. Given the original film used burgeoning innovative tools to bring its boundless set pieces to life, it would be fascinating to see what the Disney Imagineers could drum up for a new spin on the most spectacular fight in the movie.
After All, Hades Doesn’t Have A Musical Bone In His Body
Imagine seeing Disney’sHerculesin theaters for the first time in 30 years and not hearing ‘I Can Go The Distance’, ‘Zero To Hero’, or ‘I Won’t Say I’m In Love’. Sure,villains can sing too, but Hades isn’t that guy. This is the issue with swapping Hades in place of Hercules for a live-action re-imagining: Disney’s Hades is a heartless bag of cynicism with a soul as lost as the wayward criers in River Styx.
Herculeshas the heart that people need. After that, give them what they might want withHades. The blue-flame-for-hair villain’s own feature film will be dark and broody and full of spectacle in its due time. That will be fun, but first, Disney must hold firm. Honor the classic hero by letting him shine somewhere he’s longed to be over the last three decades, where a great, warm welcome will be waiting for him.
