TORONTO – Coincidentally, days after my teenage sons and I were discussing hypothetical crossovers in the comic book world – in which my eldest son suggested John Wick should team up with Batman – Italian Producer Andrea Iervolino announced additional cast members to his much buzzed about Indie-Superhero flick Bunny-Man. The project already included an eclectic cast ranging from Boxing Legend Mike Tyson, to a semi-blacklisted James Franco to Bella Thorne – a former Disney star and Actress/Director who dipped her toes in Only Fans. Adding to this hotchpotch of actors, Andrea Iervolino recently announced the addition of Italian talents Michele Morrone and Franco Nero. 

Bunny-Man is a multimillionaire rapper who wears a bunny mask, while “hunting the culprits whose actions led to his sister’s suicide”. The plot reads like it came out of a grade school writing contest, but Andrea Iervolino believes he’s on to something – and he might be right. “I believe Bunny-Man will revolutionize the way we think of superheroes. This character embodies both mystery and modernity, not just in his story but in how the audience relates to him”. Fans of the $1 billion dollar movie franchise John Wick won’t be scoffing at Iervolino’s prophesy, considering Wick is about a retired assassin avenging his murdered puppy – and wife.

The Bunny-Man film isn’t exactly a random project coming out of Italy either. For context, Italy, since 2020 has been going through somewhat of a comic book craze post pandemic, according to Comic Book Promoter, Ivano Bariani (Promo-Comix). Interestingly, Japanese manga books dominate a large part of that surge in comic book sales. “Manga” refers to graphic novels or comics coming out of Japan. And young Italians love them. In 2021, “Comic book sales nearly reached 100 million…with manga doubling the sales of graphic fiction, reaching almost 57 million. Eighty percent of the comics sold that year were manga. Considering sales of all books, one in every 11 books sold in Italy that year was manga”, informed Bariani.

And Italians aren’t necessarily green to the comic book world. Aficionados will know that Asso di Picche (Ace of Spades) was arguably Italy’s first comic superhero – created in 1945 by Mauro Faustinelli, Alberto Ongaro and Hugo Pratt. The character fought International crime and had an alter ego as journalist Gary Peters, which was undoubtedly inspired by DC Comic’s Superman. Then there was the more popular Diabolik, introduced in 1962 by the Milanese sisters, Angela and Luciana Giussani. Diabolik followed the exploits of a master thief/assassin in black tights, an anti-hero. The comic was twice adapted to film, initially in 1968 and most recently in 2021 – starring Luca Marinelli.

In an industry, which for the last 20 years has been dominated by Marvel and DC films, Iervolino’s attempt to introduce a new kind of Superhero to a burgeoning European market might prove extremely profitable. The hegemony of American Comics is long gone if not completely over. Manga books are outselling American comics in the US, and much of it comes down to the diversity of genre. And that’s what Iervolino and Motus Studios are hoping to tap into with Bunny-Man. “We strongly believe in the commercial potential of Bunny-Man. We really think it can start a very unique independent superhero saga” – Emanuele Moretti (CEO of Motus Studios).

Bunny-Man Poster courtesy of Tatatu and Motus Studios; Asso di Picche image courtesy of RCS Mediagroup, Panini & If Edizioni         

Massimo Volpe is a filmmaker and freelance writer from Toronto: he writes reviews of Italian films/content on Netflix