In 2012 a great thing happened. Someone, somewhere, discovered that they had the brass balls to make a new Judge Dredd movie. Any not just ANY Judge Dredd movie – a bloody fantastic, uber-violent and thrilling one. But then a bad thing happened. Not enough people went to see this movie and, despite rave reviews from the ones that did, the lack of box office meant that a much-needed sequel proved hard to get off the ground.
Now though, with the advent of Netflix produced TV shows and the success of Daredevil, it’s a distinct possibility that the Judge will be laying down the law again pretty soon. Here, in no particular order, are 6 reasons this needs to happen, like right now!
6. Karl Urban
He may not look too convinced in the pic above, but I have yet to hear a bad word said about Karl Urban as Judge Dredd. He’s got the voice, the enthusiasm for the character, he can act up a storm using only his manly chin and, most importantly, he’s just plain awesome. He also happens to be dead keen on doing a Netflix Dredd series. What a guy!
5. The Source Material
The Judge has been dealing out the law for a long time. This has resulted in a wealth of well crafted, multi-faceted story-lines which would be eminently suited to being told a TV series. In fact there is so much material that Mr Urban could find himself with a supremely bad case of hat-hair for a very long time indeed. Bad for his (admittedly fabulous) hair, very good for Netflix subscribers and fans of ass-kicking lawmakers everywhere.
4. Antiheroes Are In
Who hasn’t at some point recently found themselves rooting for Hannibal Lecter, lusting after Loki or praying for the Punisher? It seems we’ve had enough of the self-righteous, too good to be true heroes – what we want is someone who’s not afraid to cross the line in pursuit of the right result (or, in the case of Hannibal Lecter, the right casserole). Dredd, with his hard line, absolute form of justice, fits perfectly into that role. Just think, in the near future we could be agonising over whether to watch the next episode of The Punisher on Netflix or the next Dredd. What an excellent dilemma that would be.
3. Marvel Monopoly
We’ve got The Flash, Gotham, Arrow, Legends of Tomorrow and (at least for the time being) Supergirl for House DC and House Marvel have Jessica Jones, Daredevil, Luke Cage and the recently announced Punisher TV show, isn’t it about time we heard from some other comic houses? 2000AD have a lot to offer with some exceptional story-lines and characters and who knows, a Dredd TV show may force some of the others (i’m looking at you, Legends of Tomorrow and Arrow) to up their game, which can only be a good thing.
2. Vile Villains
The 2012 Dredd film had the excellent Lena Headey as the deeply unpleasant and distinctly un-maternal ‘Ma-Ma’ but Dredd’s extensive villain back catalogue is yet to be explored. What better place to introduce viewers to the likes of The Dark Judges, Orlok The Assassin, The Angel Gang, Judge Cal and my own personal favourite – the delightfully named Captain Skank, than an episodic TV series? With such a wealth of colourful and often completely bonkers evil-doers to choose from, a Dredd TV show would certainly be a violent, visual treat.
1. Trump Card
Against all probability, there is a distinct possibility that Donald Trump (he of the synthetic hair, massively over-inflated ego and toxic racist personality) may become the leader of the free world. If that comes to pass (and we pray to any God that happens to be listening that it doesn’t) then the world will need Judge Dredd. Let’s face it, if this happens we won’t just need the Judge Dredd TV show, we’ll need the real thing, just to keep everything under control.
Are the above reasons enough to convince you that a Judge Dredd TV series is a no-brainer or do you think we have enough antiheroes clogging up our TV screens already without adding another? Sound off in the comments or send us your thoughts on Twitter!