Let us hope for more developments as they come, but the word now is that Evans is teaming up with Titan Comics and production company XYZ Films for a comic book spin-off which will launch in 2016. “Gareth is a visionary and a huge talent,” says Titan editor Martin Eden. “It’s a pleasure to work with him on developing his characters for the comic book page. We promise to deliver the same thrilling, fifth-gear adrenaline that fans have come to expect from the franchise.”
The first film launched in 2011 in Indonesia with subsequent limited releases in the U.S. by 2012. The film became a sophmore hit for Evans following his 2009 feature action drama, Merantau, which, in both instances, introduced genre followers to Indonesian martial arts choreography centered on Pencak Silat, a style that’s been lightly showcased in several films before though never prolifically as Evans did. This, coupled with the Evans’s formula for a brutal, sprawling crime epic with Uwais pitted against numerous foes and a handful of specially-skilled killers played by the liked of Yayan Ruhian, Julie Estelle, Very Tri Yulisman and Cecep Arif Rahman made The Raid (a.k.a. The Raid Redemption in the U.S.) and its 2014 sequel, The Raid 2, two of the most memorable martial arts action hits in recent memory.
A remake of the 2011 film currently remains on the backburner following the departure of its then-attached director, Patrick Hughes, and Sony subsidiary Screen Gems – a move that ultimately puts control in the hands of XYZ Films, but ultimately slows things down substantively nonetheless. In the meantime, a team is slated to be announced for the forthcoming comic book in due time.
Uwais, fresh off of an outer-space cameo in J.J. Abrams Star Wars: The Force Awakens, has a few titles pending from here on, including sci-fi sequel Beyond Skyline, the Mo Brothers amnesiac action thriller, Headshot, and the forthcoming production of STX Entertainment’s Mile 22 with Ronda Rousey and Mark Wahlberg.