The first live-action female superhero movie of the current generation, Painkiller Jane, is coming from American Mary and See No Evil 2 directors Jen & Sylvia Soska, aka “The Twisted Twins.” The character, created by Jimmy Palmiotti and Joe Quesada, is a cop who becomes indestructible, and has already been adapted into a TV movie and a TV series that, well, weren’t very good. But we’ve been hearing great things about the project from Jen & Sylvia Soska, who teased the film’s villain exclusively at CraveOnline during Comic-Con 2014, and who now are back to assure us that Painkiller Jane will have an R rating. (Unlike a certain Deadpool movie…)
“I’m not working for Marvel,“ Jen Soska told us in an upcoming CraveOnline interview about See No Evil 2. “It has to be an R-rated character. I would love to see Marvel do Marvel MAX movies, where you do The Punisher for kids and then you do The Punisher as The Punisher. Because when you come to a character like Jane, she drinks, she fights, she fucks, she talks like you and I talk, and that’s an important part of her character.”
What’s more, if Painkiller Jane does wind up getting toned down to reach a broader audience, Jen Soska thinks it would be a shame.
“That’s why we’d be really disappointed if that ended up being a PG or a PG-13 film because if you look at the character… Kids are reading this kind of content,“ Jen Soska continues. “I mean, when I was a kid I was reading The Punisher. I was reading all this kind of stuff. I think people discredit kids and what they’re capable of tolerating. So Jane has to be true to the character and it’s got to be an R. We can’t tone it down or we’d tone Jane out of the entire script.”
Related: Jen & Sylvia Soska on Reveal New Details About ‘Painkiller Jane’ (Exclusive Video)
Fortunately, it appears that thanks to the failures of the previous Painkiller Jane adaptations, The Soska Sisters have support for their R-rated interpretation.
“And this is the third shot. There’s a Made-for-TV movie, there’s a TV series, and they kept watering her down, watering her down, watering her down,” Sylvia Soska reminds us. “Jen and I are not going to let that happen, and Jimmy Palmiotti – who is also one of the producers – he’s not going to let that happen. The producers of this movie they’re all… There are some scenes in this movie, there’s no way they’re not going to slap us with an R. Once you see it, it’s going to just be batshit crazy.”
The Soska Sisters are also quick to remind us that a lot is riding on Painkiller Jane as the first solo female superhero movie. Period. Sylvia Soska even says that Catwoman and Elektra aren’t even “real movies.”
“I’m so excited about it because there are so few female superheroes that are leading movies. It would be obvious [to] put Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow in something, and you’re still not doing that,“ Sylvia Soska adds. “And then you get this bi-sexual, badass, dirty language, doesn’t give a fuck cop as the first female-starring [superhero] movie? And I don’t really include Elektra and Catwoman. I don’t think those are real movies. It’s just exciting to see that girl fucking kick ass, and if that makes money, then all those all those other girls, hopefully, will get there chances to be starring [in their own] movies too.”
Related: 10 Female Superhero Movies We Want
The film is moving along quickly, apparently, since script is currently being read by someone in contention for the lead role. But The Soska Sisters won’t say who is up for the part. (We suggested their frequent collaborator and American Mary star Katharine Isabelle.) They will, however, say what type of actress they are looking for.
“I can’t actually tell you who is reading it right now but it’s one those things where it’s so important to find the right Jane, and Jane is going to be, like the script, right off the pages of the comic book. Tough as nails,” Jen Soska explains. “The kind of woman that if you nudge [her] in a bar, you’re not trying to pick this one up. You’re going to buy her a new beer and go, ‘Oh my god, please don’t punch me in the face.'”
As for the film’s script, Sylvia Soska describes it as “The Heat on crack,“ adding that it features, “The dirtiest language and crudest comedy and hardcore violence, and yet at the same time, it somehow has heart.”
And their plans for Painkiller Jane are only getting bigger. “This isn’t even planned as a standalone film. We’re planning at least two more of these,“ assures Sylvia Soska.
Having seen The Soska Sisters’ previous films, we here at CraveOnline think that they have the chops to pull this off. It certainly sounds like they’re dedicated to turning Painkiller Jane into the uncompromising comic book adaptation everyone wants it to be. Let’s hope that the studio doesn’t veer away from the upcoming movie’s mature subject matter and fully commits to promoting the film for what it’s intended to be: R-rated and proud.
William Bibbiani is the editor of CraveOnline’s Film Channel and the host of The B-Movies Podcast and The Blue Movies Podcast. Follow him on Twitter at @WilliamBibbiani.
