Earlier this month, I had the chance to sit down with Detective Comics writer John Layman at Bangalore comic con 2017 for an exclusive interview. While he is well known for his works with DC and Marvel Comics, most of his followers would now know him better for creating Chew series for Image Comics.
If you aren’t familiar with Chew, the comic series follows Tony Chu, a detective whose a Cibopath. He gets psychic impressions by eating something that’s living or dead.
Back in 2013, Chew was to be brought to life as a live-action series at Showtime. Unfortunately, that was short-lived as it didn’t move beyond the point of developing a pilot.
Later on, Chew got another chance at being produced as an animated feature for digital and home video. It was also confirmed that The Walking Dead actor Steven Yeun would voice Tony Chu and The Guild web series creator Felicia Day voicing the main lead character’s love interest, Amelia Mintz.
Former Doctor Who star David Tennant also joined the cast as he replaced the part which was originally going to be filled by Robin Williams. It seemed like the project was soon to see the light. But once again, it didn’t go as expected.
During our interview, Layman confirmed that the animated feature project is “Dead”. Fans can check it out in the video below.
As disappointing that sounds, we aren’t just the bearer of bad news. Chew is once again in the process of being adapted for the small screen.
Layman confirmed that a “new Hollywood person” is trying to make Chew into a TV show. This would be the third time the Image comics’ series is being attempted to be brought alive for the screen audience. But the creator isn’t worried about its hurdles.
“It took Preacher 15 years to become a TV show so I’m being patient,” said Layman. For now, fans will have to wait for an announcement from the network that’s planning on adapting the comic series to the small screen.
In more news about Chew, fans who were disappointed after the comic series ended with the 60th issue will get to see its characters again in a crossover with Layman’s next creator-owned comic.
During our chat, we also got to hear more details on the project and when fans can expect to see the crossover. Listen to his response in the video below.
December 21st, 12:40 p.m: Updated to reflect that Layman has clarified his statement that there are talks of a TV show but the project is not in the development stage.
