Wednesday, June 2, 2010

EXCLUSIVE: FIRST ARTWORK FROM "XERXES" THE "300" PREQUEL BY FRANK MILLER

Here's a real treat. "Dark Horse Comics" has just released the first artwork image from the upcoming comic book "Xerxes" by Frank Miller, which is basically a prequel to his comic book "300" which was adapted into one of the most famous epics ever. "Xerxes" should be made into a new movie by "300" director Zack Snyder. Xerxes rose to power in fifth-century-BC Persia and became known as "The King of Kings" eventually raising and leading a massive army intent on ruthlessly destroying the hated Greeks who killed his father. He wanted nothing less than to become a god himself. The time frame of "Xerxes" begins 10 years before "300" and the story starts with the Battle of Marathon which was extremely difficult to draw as Miller said himself. The lead character of the book and of the possible movie is Themistocles, who became warlord of Greece and built their navy. The story will cover a much greater span of time - around 10 years, and will be very complex, with many details such as the conflict between Athenian naval fleet and the Persian fleet, the conflicts between spies, gods, warriors...

19 comments:

  1. Oh, I really don't know what to say... it looks over-the-top creatively and kinda ugly at the same time :) At least I'm sure that Snyder is the man that best knows how to make Xerxes look spectacularly majestic on screen:)

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  2. To me it looks more or less the same as Rodrigo Santoro in "300" :)
    I also expect majestic things from Zack Sanyder, and can't wait to see his THE LEGEND OF THE GUARDIANS this autumn :)

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  3. So I'm still confused on whether or not this is pre- or post-300, because it looks like Xerxes is sporting the scar he got at the end of 300.

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  4. Ancient yet modernistic, like the aureate hues.

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  5. cim najavljuju ovaj prikvel, bice i sikvela sikurno :)

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  6. @Jaccsy and Vlada
    :)) the confusion is mutual :)

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  7. I was going to ask the same thing as Jaccstev as that scar was definitely from Leonidas' spear just moments before his end (GREAT scene btw). Unfortunately I'm not as interested in this without Leonidas, as he really was the STAR of '300.' But I doubt GB would want to train so arduously again to be involved in this.

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  8. Yes, yes, RTM, we know the world doesn't exist without Gerard Butler for you :PP

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  9. Be interesting to see who they cast in the movie.

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  10. I hope they'll cast Rodrigo Santoro if they decide to shoot the movie, he was amazing in 300!

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  11. I hope he puts Artemesia in the story. According to Herodotus, she was Xerxes' right hand gal and awesome in her own right.

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  12. that sounds interesting, Lorel, we could use a nice female character in an epic like this one.

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  13. Still not interested in this. Or pretty much anything Frank Miller has to offer. I don't like him as an artist, author, or a director. But that's my opinion.

    Also, I wouldn't put my hopes up much in a female character. Miller is well known as a bad writer of female characters. And that's the opinion of many others.

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  14. well, queen Gorgo from 300 was pretty much amazing character, the only problem was the horrible performance of Lena Headey.

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  15. Queen Gorgo was like that because of a situation/story that demanded such a female character. There was no way around it, not even for Frank Miller. Still, his lack of "normal" female characters isn't such a big deal. His stories are made for men, and feature men mostly. You could imagine what kind of female characters inhabit such worlds/stories.

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  16. Gorgo was actually quite the opposite - she was very unusual since she was opinionated and strong, but Lena didn't portray her well, because she was a bit weak in some scenes that demanded a much more powerful actress - like the scene when she is addressing the Gerousia, the Spartan council. That role needed Angelina, Zeta Jones ... or some other strong actress.

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  17. Oh I won't go that far Dez. But even a LOT of non-GB fan would agree with my Leonidas comment. Moving on... I thought Lena was great as Gorgo IMO, Jolie would've been too overpowering in this role. She might as well just go all Lara Croft and annihilate all those immortals on her own :)

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  18. Now I want to see a story/movie entirely about Artemesia and starring Angelina! (we will edit out her smart, yet disappointing retreat from the sea battle, though. I can't picture Angelina retreating from anything!)

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  19. @rtm
    I didn't actually mean to put Angelina in the movie, I was more thinking of that type of actress, someone who can bring a deep and powerful performance in essential scenes like that one in Gerousia was. I'm also sure, Angelina herself, would've killed Xerxes with her bare hands (or possibly legs) :)

    @Lorel
    It would be great seeing an epic dedicated totally to some ancient female ruler, like Artemesia, Nefertiti, Cleopatra, Dido....

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