Netflix's 'The Old Guard' writer explains the challenges of turning his comic into a movie and his 'in case of sequel, break glass' ending

• Netflix debuted its new comic-book action movie, "The Old Guard," on Friday.
• Business Insider talked with the screenwriter Greg Rucka, who also wrote the comic it's based on, about the challenges of adapting it for the screen.
• He also discussed a potential sequel to the movie and when fans could expect the next installment of the comic series.

Under normal circumstances, the summer movie season would be in full swing right now and blockbusters would be lighting up the box office.

But the coronavirus pandemic has forced theaters to stay in the dark for the past four months and movie studios have pushed back summer tentpoles. The few that remain on the schedule are likely to be delayed, again, as coronavirus cases surge in some US states.

But for anyone pining for the return of the summer action movie, Netflix has them covered.

On Friday, the streaming giant debuted "The Old Guard," based on the comic book of the same name about a group of immortal mercenaries by writer Greg Rucka and artist Leandro Fernández. It's directed by "Love and Basketball" director Gina Prince-Bythewood and stars Charlize Theron, who is no stranger to action movies with dynamite performances in "Mad Max: Fury Road," "Atomic Blonde," and more.

Rucka, who also wrote the screenplay for the movie, talked with Business Insider on Thursday about how he translated the comic to the screen, the challenges of doing so, and what the future has in store, including a potential movie sequel and the next installment of the comic series.

When Rucka hopped on the phone, he said he was bewildered, but proud, that a movie he wrote was about to debut on Netflix for the world to see.

This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

Travis Clark: You mentioned that you're bewildered. Why?

Greg Rucka: In 2013 or so, I had this idea for this character [Andy, played by Charlize Theron] and she's the manifestation of ideas that I've been bouncing around with my wife for 20 to 30 years. And then [artist and cocreator] Leandro [Fernández] and I actually make the comic and [production studio] Skydance says "we really like it and by the way you can write the screenplay." And here we are in July 2020 and there's a movie coming out on Netflix, which could not have been a better choice. It's directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood and stars Charlize Theron and KiKi Layne ... so yeah, I think "bewildered" is a good word.

Clark: So when did Netflix come on board?

Rucka: Skydance optioned the comic [in 2017]. We got the screenplay ready and they were very excited, then Gina came on to direct [in 2018]. Around early preproduction I think, Netflix comes aboard [in 2019]. They said they really wanted to release it to streaming and potentially theatrical.

[A person familiar with the situation told Business Insider that Netflix considered a theatrical release before the coronavirus pandemic, and that thinking changed in March.]

We had started out thinking it was a fairly modest film in a lot of ways. And when Netflix comes in, we all of a sudden have a much more prominent project than I had thought of from the start. I thought it was fairly quiet in its own way, knowing it's an action movie. But it's restrained and subtle for an action film. It could have been done for a reasonably limited budget. But Netflix brings the opportunity to do so much more because of their resources.

Clark: What are the hardest parts of adapting a comic you wrote into a movie?

Rucka: The fundamental truth is that the work must change because the medium changes. The mediums have different strengths. The first truth in approaching the adaptation was to retain what attracted Skydance to it, so the heart and soul of the material, but in a way that works on the screen. That then leads to choices that are pretty mechanical and self-evident.

Clark: What were some of those choices?

Rucka: I'll give you a great example. Leandro has a beautiful sense of graphic storytelling and design. He also plays a bit with caricature so what he's drawing can be realistic but not literal. When we reveal to the reader that the characters can be shot as many times as possible and still be fine, and when Leandro draws that, he can draw someone with an eyeball hanging from their optic nerve and it doesn't look as gross as it sounds. It looks kind of silly. You can't do that in a movie. The literalism would have been so off-putting and grotesque. Tonally, it would have been a different movie. We found ourselves making choices with an eye to that.

In terms of character, Nile's [played by KiKi Layne] story in the comic isn't influencing the plot of the overall work. It doesn't truly alter the outcome. You can't do that in a movie. Nile needed much more attention when it came time to adapt than I had given her in the comic.

Clark: Were choices like this made during the writing process or did they come from working with [director] Gina [Prince-Bythewood]?

Rucka: Gina had a very clear vision. The comic is goofy. These are Looney Tunes characters. They're all Wile E. Coyote. What became very clear working with Gina early on is that she was focusing on the emotional truth. That meant that a lot of the glibness of the source material, and some of it in the early drafts of the screenplay, went away. It becomes darker. The laughs come less from gag and more from the emotional truth of situations.

Clark: In terms of story and specific plot points, what were some things you knew worked in the comic that wouldn't in the movie?

Rucka: In the comic, getting Nile from Afghanistan to Paris takes two pages. In the movie, at that point in the story, Nile has questions that need answers. She's not a willing participant. That's how you get the plane sequence in the movie. In early drafts, there had been even more to it. Getting Nile onto the plane had been a sequence in and of itself. That's the prime difference. Comics rely on a lot of effort on the part of the reader without the reader really thinking they're providing it. A comic implies and lets you do the work by filling in between the panels what leads from A to B to C. Movies don't do that.

Clark: Are you starting to feel more comfortable writing screenplays than comics?

Rucka: My first literary agent out of grad school gave me advice: you're a storyteller first and foremost. I say this as a guy who started as a novelist then I moved into comics and novels and now I am writing screenplays and novels and comics. The luxury in that is at 50 years old I feel I have mastery of different skill sets. I can think about what medium will serve the story most.

Clark: The movie ends on a big cliffhanger, so I was wondering if that came naturally or if you had a sequel in mind?

Rucka: When Leandro and I finished the first comic series, I said "we're done." Almost immediately Leandro said he wanted to do more. So I could see three acts for an overall story, even before Skydance and Netflix. So the final scene of the movie is what I've come to refer to as the "in case of sequel, break glass" scene. If Netflix decided they wanted to make more, we absolutely can. If we do not, I am very content with the movie. I think it's a complete work. While it does end on a question, it doesn't demand another movie. It opens the door for more.

Clark: Just to clarify, the comic is planned to be three acts? Is there a release date set for the third story?

Rucka: Issue five — the last issue — of the second story, which is called "The Old Guard: Force Multiplied," is out next week [July 15]. And then Leandro and I are starting work on the third story in the next month or so. When it comes to comics, if Leandro were to start drawing something in September, I don't see us releasing anything until summer of 2021.