Jake Gyllenhaal to star in a new superhero movie from creator of ‘Deadpool’
The Spider-Man: Far From Home actor will play a character described as the 'anti-Captain America'
After impressing audiences with his role as Mysterio in ‘Spider-Man: Far From Home,’ Jake Gyllenhaal will now be starring in another superhero movie.
This time he’ll be playing the lead in a comic book adaptation called ‘Prophet’, in the titular role of John Prophet.
Jake’s character has been conscripted by the Germans at the end of World War II. He received superhuman strength thanks to the work of scientists, after volunteering for a German experiment so that he can feed his family.
He’s been described as the ‘anti-Captain America.’
It doesn’t all go to plan, and he gets caught up in a bombing where he is buried alive underground for 20 years.
Prophet eventually reawakens in 1965, only to find that his family resents him and the world has left him behind. To make matters worse, KGB agents are after his blood in order to create an army of super-soldiers.
He was supposed to wake up years down the line, and goes in search of a mission that doesn’t exist yet.
The brains behind the new project is Deadpool’s Rob Liefeld.
Joining him will be Sam Hargrave as director, who previously worked on Marvel’s ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’ and ‘Avengers: Endgame’. Writing the script is Marc Guggenheim, who fans might know from ‘Arrowverse’.
Studio 8 CEO Jeff Robinov said in a statement: “It’s been a goal of ours to work with Jake and Sam for quite some time, so we’re very excited to finally be collaborating with them on this unique, action-packed genre film,”
He continued: “I’m looking forward to seeing what they envision for bringing this story to life — a story we’re sure will stand out in the comic book world as a powerful, emotionally charged and visually distinctive film.”
Gyllenhall recently revealed he was so nervous playing Mysterio that he kept forgetting lines, and had to be reassured by Spider-Man star Tom Holland.
He told Howard Stern: “It’s hard, man. That acting is hard. All of it. That world is enormous. And I joined that world way into that run; a train that was already moving. Normally, I come in way early on and I get to figure it out.”
The Brokeback Mountain star added: “I was freaking out. It was a scene with [Samuel L.] Jackson, Tom … there were a number of actors in that scene. And I remember not being able to remember my lines. I was the wooden board. And they were like, ‘Whoa.’ And I went up to Tom Holland and was like, ‘Dude, help me out.’
Jake continued: “He’s like, ‘It’s all good, man. Just relax.’ It was like he was me in so many situations. And I finally did. I just put a lot of pressure on [myself] because I love that world.”