In 2003, a film that could only be described as Victorian-era Avengers came out. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen was a steampunk-esque movie that brought together characters from classic novels such as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Portrait of Dorian Gray, The Invisible Man, and others. Based on a comic-book series under the same name, this was Sean Connery’s last project to date. For anyone who watched the film, anyone can agree that it seemed that a sequel was being set up, but that never happened. It’s 2018 and we never got another movie, why is that?
Connery played Allan Quatermain, who was a legendary adventurer who couldn’t miss a shot. Having since abandoned England, Quatermain spends his days drinking and becoming a part of the community in Kenya, when he’s recruited to help stop a villain by the Fantom. At first, refusing, Quatermain starts on an adventure where he’s thrown in with a group of other misfits that include a vampire, a legendary sea-adventure (Captain Nemo), and Tom Sawyer, who was admittedly thrown in to appeal to American viewers.
In the early 2000s, steampunk movies were in, and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen certainly fit the bill. With gorgeous costumes, and stunning visuals, this movie doesn’t get the credit it deserves. Each character had a unique story and personality, with the superhero trope of everyone not getting along initially before pulling together to fight a common evil. Though Ben Barnes is popular for having displayed Dorian Gray in his own movie, I thought Stuart Townsend did a great job as the character, who ended up betraying the team. I’m particularly fond of Naseeruddin Shah as Captain Nemo and Jason Flemyng as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
The film ends with the screenshot focusing on Allan Quatermain’s grave, having died at the end of the movie’s final battle; hinting at the idea that the main character may not be dead. You see, earlier in the movie, Quatermain explains how the people of Kenya promised that they’d never let him die. We were almost guaranteed a sequel, but evidently; the movie didn’t do well. Critics cited the movie as not having depth and others slashed the film as not being respectful to the comic book source, hence no sequel.
Still, I believe that there was plenty of material there that could have been transformed into a franchise and it would have been an “Avengers” style universe that was ahead of its time. For it being 2003, the CGI was impressive for its time, and the movie was unique in using flash photography during the transformations of Dr. Jekyll turning into Mr. Hyde. And while there was a big critique in spotlighting the character Mina Harker as a vampire, it was good to see a strong woman who could play with the boys and used as an integral part of defeating the villain.
The last update we got in regards to the movie was that a female-centric reboot was floating around in 2015, but considering we haven’t heard anything since, it could be just another example of a project being stuck in development hell.
A girl with too many fandoms to count.
