stirpicus:gailsimone:INCREDIBLY COOL THING THAT ALMOST...

stirpicus:

gailsimone:

INCREDIBLY COOL THING THAT ALMOST HAPPENED

Okay, many of you know I wrote a new version of a classic DC character called THE ALL NEW ATOM. The lead character was a young Chinese-Korean scientist and teacher named Ryan Choi, and the book had a fun, weird science vibe that made it a bit of a cult favorite.

It sold better than anyone expected, and there’s a lot of fondness for Ryan still. He wasn’t a master martial artist, his fighting style came from his mother, an Olympic gymnast. And his joy in seeing the world from a tiny perspective made him a lot of fun to read about, in my opinion.

On twitter a couple years ago, the wonderfully talented Canadian actor, Osric Chau, whose father is from HK and whose mom is from Malaysia, was on Twitter, and he had just gotten hold of a bunch of ATOM issues and was saying incredibly nice things about it (not to me, we didn’t know each other), and he said that it was the first time he saw a superhero that reminded him of himself, that looked and acted like he did, and that it meant a lot to him.

Some people pointed it out to me, and being a fan of Supernatural, where I first saw Osric, I was thrilled, of course. We talked a little bit back and forth, and he was just as charming and gracious as you could ever hope, and it definitely became cemented in my mind, MAN, if they ever do Ryan in a film, IT MUST BE OSRIC PLAYING HIM.

Later, at a busy con in Seattle, I had had long lines all weekend and was getting a little fuzzy, when this RIDICULOUSLY handsome and charismatic guy comes up in line, smiling, and saying he just wanted to meet me. It took a minute, but people were all excited to see him, and I realized, holy crap, that’s Osric Chau!

So I gave him a big hug and did the squee thing, and I am even more convinced, OSRIC CHAU is RYAN CHOI.

He REALLY is. Also, he’s even more handsome in person than on television, what a cutie this guy is!

Anyway.  I was so touched that I decided even if Osric couldn’t be Ryan, I would make him a hero in the comics anyway. So, I got approval from everyone to have him be the best swordsman in the world in Red Sonja. Osric was delighted, and we put him in there, and it was just a lot of fun for all of us.

Here’s what I DIDN’T know, and just found out.

Osric and a partner of his, actually tried to get an ATOM show greenlighted! I didn’t know this at all.  But man, alive, with the FLASH and GOTHAM and ARROW being such big hits, can you imagine what an ATOM show would be like? With OSRIC playing Ryan?

Unfortunately, it hasn’t happened yet, but they haven’t given up.

I am attaching an illustration they used to show the concept…what Ryan would wear in the first season (he would work up to the costume!). My understanding is that the suit would have the bio-luminescence that the comic introduced, and the show would have the full cast of our comic, including the Lighter Than Air Society.

I ask you, how fun would this have been?

Hollywood, we want an ATOM show with OSRIC CHAU as RYAN CHOI!

Osric and I spent the better part of a year developing this series together and, man, it was a blast. Shame the pitch never went anywhere but it was so much fun making a TV show out of Gail’s vibrant world and cast of “ALL-NEW ATOM.”

And yes, the plan would’ve been for him to start with just the jacket and gloves for season 1, with the season 1 finale being when he receives the proper “Atom Environmental Protection Suit,” which would have looked more like the traditional costume that Ryan wears in the comics. :)

So cool! I didn’t know if it was okay to use your name.

It’s not too late, get Osric on the Flash!