Logan Cross, creator of the Nightshadow comic book and film universe, has moved into pre-production on his amazing project. I first came across Nightshadow when I began looking for female comic characters who weren’t just over simplified female versions of their male counterparts. One of my biggest pet peeves against comic book heroines is the fact that they are just carbon copies of male characters and have no individuality, no femininity (huge breasts and revealing clothing does NOT make a character feminine, btw), and no unique perspectives on what it’s like to be a hero.
With the unbelievably saturated comic book movie market showing no signs of slowing down, one wonders what an independent and entirely new universe can bring to the table. As it turns out, quite a lot.
Enter Nightshadow.
Nightshadow is a female vigilante in her late 20’s who comes from a rough childhood, has experienced life on the streets, service in a foreign child Army, and membership in an Order of Assassins. She is intelligent, experienced, cultured, and driven.
What definitively separates her from other known superheroes is that she has lived most of her life without any sort of superpowers and she does not have a lot of money. This, coupled with a rough life and the fact that she is a woman, makes her stand out as a truly remarkable character.
When I spoke to Logan Cross about this universe, I expressed my reservations about focusing on a female lead and just having it another run-of-the-mill copied hero concept. What I got from him was not only a breath of fresh air, it was so well thought out and so perfectly put together that I wondered how they weren’t already signing the three movie deal and distributing a billion comic issues.
Seriously, it’s that good.
I’ve owned comic book shops in the past, I’ve been a Marvel and DC fan for better part of three decades and I’m always a big supporter of independent productions, so when Nightshadow appeared on my radar, it filled pretty much every check box I had for supporting and promoting this amazing project.
Real stories with real people, set in realistic worlds are my favorite because they are so easy to relate to. No, we don’t have superheroes with powers and no we don’t have costumed vigilantes running around saving the day, but we’ve always looked to them for guidance and to be our role models and, to be really honest, not a lot of the aforementioned Marvel/DC heroines fit the bill. While the character of Nightshadow (Quinn Collins) does not aspire to be a role model or to engage in any of that type of behavior in the fictional universe, as a stand-out character I believe she has quite a lot to offer our youth.
Just as Superman isn’t just for young boys to enjoy, Nightshadow isn’t just for young girls either. I think my favorite part about this entire concept is that Cross and his team are opening up doors for boys and girls to enjoy the concept of the hero without worrying about gender or stereotypes. Yes, she’s a woman and yes she views things from a woman’s perspective, but instead of just highlighting the fact that this is a female character and abandoning the need for male viewers to get behind the concept, Nightshadow gives us an amazing glimpse into a new perspective that shows us that true heroics doesn’t discriminate.
Clearly, I’m a fan of this work and I’ll be following the production along as it continues.
Please make sure to go to https://www.nightshadowmovie.com/ to check out the official page and get up-to-date information about the project and check out my interview with Logan on episode 84 of the podcast here: https://filmfervor.com/film-fervor-episode-84-logan-cross-nightshadow/