Throughout April, we’re counting down to the release of Marvel’s Iron Man 3 with our picks for the Greatest Comic Book Movies of All Time; here’s #14…
Dredd, 2012.
Directed by Pete Travis.
Starring Karl Urban, Lena Headey, Olivia Thirlby, Wood Harris and Domhnall Gleeson.
Britain’s most iconic comic book character returned to the screen last year for the first time since 1995’s Sylvester Stallone-headlined travesty as Karl Urban donned the helmet of Judge Joseph Dredd, serving as judge, jury and executioner in a battle to clean the streets of Mega-City One of the powerful new drug Slo-Mo, supplied by Lena Headey’s crime-boss Ma-Ma.
Despite making little impact at the box office, Dredd proved to be a big hit with fans, as well as the character’s co-creator John Wagner, who described it as “a true representation” of the lawman of the future. Sadly, despite strong home-entertainment sales, it looks unlikely at this point in time that we’ll be seeing Karl Urban donning the helmet for the second and third instalments of Garland’s proposed Judge Dredd trilogy. However, we may yet see Dredd back on the streets, as producer Adi Shankar has said that he plans to shoot a short film follow-up, while just today 2000AD has announced a sequel of sorts in comic book form.
Keep up to date with our entire countdown here.
Holy Franchise, Batman! Bringing the Caped Crusader to the Screen – Available now via Amazon.co.uk
Originally published April 12, 2013. Updated November 30, 2022.
