With the new television series, Judge Dredd: Mega-City One tentatively penciled in to start production this year, these are truly exciting times to be a fan of 2000 AD’s most notorious law enforcer. Despite the high-camp antics of the 1995 Sly Stallone movie, and the disappointing box-office take of Alex Garland’s reboot, there’s now a very real prospect that the iconic character will finally be able to break out and achieve the high level of adoration it deserves from wider audiences.
Karl Urban has confirmed on several occasions that he is actively involved in talks to reprise the role, which would anchor the new TV series in the same universe as his 2012 film adaptation. Readers of the comics have already been able to follow the adventures of Urban’s version of Joe Dredd in an official sequel series to the movie, and this month sees the character finally come face to face with newly created versions of legendary Dredd foes, The Dark Judges.
Judge Dredd Megazine #392 is already out on sale now, and sees the quartet of undead villains shatter the barriers between their decimated reality and Dredd’s world, breaking through to set foot on the streets of Mega City One. As if that wasn’t exciting enough, the issue also sees the return of two other Dredd favorites, with new storylines for ape cop Harry Heston and Cursed Earth lawman Koburn.
Ever since their debut back in 1981, Judges Death, Fear, Fire and Mortis have proven to be the most repellant bad guys that 2000 AD has ever produced. Dispatching the populations of whole planets in their trademark gruesome fashion, they have featured in the biggest and most popular Dredd storylines, enjoying a truly unsettling reboot with the creation of the recent ‘Deadworld’ origins series.
The prospect of their arrival in the ‘Urbanverse’ is almost exciting as that of the new TV show itself. The 2015 series Urban Warfare expanded the boundaries of the movie version of Mega City One, seeing Dredd come face to face with more of the endemic corruption within the Justice Department, as well as city-wide riots and killer robots. Adding a new supernatural element to the grit and grime of this imprint is an event that fans of the franchise simply cannot afford to miss.
The new storyline is scheduled for to run for the next five months, and has been created by Arthur Wyatt, Alex De Campi and Henry Flint, the masterminds behind the aforementioned ‘Deadworld’ reboot. Hopefully, it’s conclusion should coincide with some detail around exactly what direction the tv series will also be taking.
We also had some concept art made of what this potential encounter with Karl Urban’s Dredd and Judge Death would look like on the big screen:
We’ll be sure to keep you posted on everything new with 2000 AD and Mega-City One in the future.
What do you think of this? Are you excited for the comic? Be sure to tell us your thoughts in the comments!