Johnny Depp and Ridley Scott are part of a graphic novel that's based on Jekyll and Hyde. Now at the San Diego Comic Con, a trailer and possible plans for the franchise were revealed.
At the current San Diego Comic Con, a new trailer to a very interesting project was revealed. The upcoming HYDE by Mechanical Cake explores the character of the legendary Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. But instead of just retelling the famous novella by Robert Louis Stevenson, the graphic novel will take a darker and unique route.
Passion Project
HYDE is created by Jesse Negron and set to be released in two volumes. In this world, Mr. Hyde has already defeated his kind-hearted counterpart Dr. Jekyll and is now free to explore his dark tendencies without interference. The project is a collaboration between Negron, Johnny Depp, and Ridley Scott who will be the graphic novel's director and overseer.
The infamous Mr Hyde will be modeled after Johnny Depp. But Depp will not only lend his likeness to Hyde. Instead, he will have input on all aspects of the property and create the character himself. Depp seems very excited to be part of this project, as he explained on Instagram:
To step into the world of Robert Louis Stevenson, to be welcomed into Ridley Scott’s vision… and to explore this character – it’s madness and magic!
Live-Action Trailer
The trailer of the graphic novel looks very promising. Johnny Depp portrays Mr. Hyde as a deranged lunatic succumbing to madness more and more, while brewing a strange potion and talking to a brain in a jar. As soon as he drinks the potion, he is haunted by visions that seem to be pages from the graphic novel.
It's always refreshing to see Johnny Depp in his forte of playing dark and strange characters that almost seem whimsical. The fact that the trailer comes with this live action component might serve as a first glimpse into further plans for the franchise.
Movie Adaptation Down The Road
Negron talked about how his aim is to bypass traditional gatekeepers of the film industry and build a fan-led franchise that can make the leap from page to film. This has previously worked with Keanu Reeve's own franchise BRZRKR, which expanded from comics to a Netlix live-action movie and an anime series that are currently in development.
The first volume of HYDE will ship on Halloween and is already available for preorder online. It will be very exciting to see this new project come to life, because even Ridley Scott himself labeled the pitch a "no-brainer".