80s action heroes never die, they just fade away a little until the inevitable reboot of their careers in middle age. Sylvester Stallone still flexes his muscles in a movie every year or so, Jean-Claude Van Damme got all meta on us in JCVD, and Schwarzenegger, well, we all know how that turned out. Even the B and C-list heroes are apparently getting a second chance. Remember Remo Williams? Maybe? He was the hero of the Destroyer series of pulp novels in the 80s, as well as a feature film and TV movie-- and now he's back!
THR's Risky Business blog is reporting that producers Charles Roven and Steve Chasman will produce The Destroyer at Columbia, bringing back Williams, a New Jersey cop who fakes his death on the electric chair to come back as vigilante The Destroyer. I admit I'd never heard of the character before today, but I like the details-- he's assisted by an assassin named Chiun, and spends his days destroying those in the underworld who framed him for the electric chair to begin with.
The story seems pretty appropriate for the time being, especially since 80s heroes are being revived all over the place. And since Remo Williams isn't exactly a cultural touchstone, they can go in a lot of new directions with the character, rather than slavishly sticking to what's been done before. I usually do a knee-jerk cringe when hearing about remakes, but this one is pretty OK by me.
