Academy - created by My Chemical Romance's Gerard Way and artist Gabriel Ba - follows the adult lives of former child superheroes following the death of their adoptive father and mentor, as they try to reunite to carry out his plan to save the world. Mixing deconstruction with affectionate parody and influences from things like Grant Morrison's Doom Patrol and even Mike Mignola's Hellboy, the comic reads at times like Watchmen as written by the Monty Python team, which may be a tall order for screenwriter Mark Bomback (Race to Witch Mountain) to replicate onscreen (Then again, he also wrote the absurd Live Free Or Die Hard...).

The movie will be co-produced by Universal and Academy publisher Dark Horse, and is the first project from the three year deal between the two signed as a result of the success of last year's Hellboy II (also a Universal/Dark Horse co-production).

Universal to make 'Academy' film [Variety]

We've Harold and Maude meets the X-Men":

I said going into the meetings that this film has to be really progressive. It can't simply be the next opportunity for a video game. In the way that 'The Dark Knight' made its own rules, it needs to have its own energy... Everything about the movie has to interlock properly. I want the music to be just right. I want [Sweeney Todd costume designer] Colleen Atwood to do the costumes. She's never done a super-hero. We actually had a meeting long before the Universal meeting when I first really heard about the possibility of the film. It was one of the first things I did, right away. What will make the project special is the people that work on it.

One of those people? Way himself:

They want me to be very involved in it. I'm interested in co-scoring it with somebody too. Something like RJ-D2. Something completely different. Do you know what I mean? I think everything he does has an interesting '60s vibe. It almost has that dystopian 'The Prisoner' feel to it.

So, let's go over this: Namechecking The Prisoner, Harold and Maude and the X-Men, Juno, RJ-D2 and Tim Burton's costume designer? Is there anything that could make this movie (of an already impressive comic) more awesome? Oh, yeah, that's right: One of the members of the team has a gorilla's body instead of his own:
The second series of the comic, Umbrella Academy: Dallas launches next month. The movie is currently aiming for a 2011 release.

Gerard Way on the 'Umbrella Academy' movie: 'I don't want it to be 'Harry Potter'' [Hero Complex]

A source close to the project, co-produced by Dark Horse Entertainment, insists that “there is a movie deal on the table… but the option hasn’t actually been signed." According to Way, Universal wants Juno scribe Diablo Cody for the unfilled scripting gig, and adds that Alfonso Cuarón (Children of Men) sits atop his wish list of directors—though, according to the source, there is no solid commitment yet from Cuarón. Meanwhile, not one to waste time, Way has already approached wardrobe consultant Colleen Atwood (Tim Burton’s Sweeney Todd) about outfitting the still-uncast Umbrella characters. "I think the costume designer already said yes," says Umbrella artist Gabriel Bá (who previously drew Casanova). As for his role in the feature film? “Gerard said he would want me to get involved with the production art, approval, etc.… [But] they’re trying to get a director before going forward with this."

Gerard Way photo courtesy of CassieWay