Interview: Bloodshot co-creator Kevin VanHook looks back at the roots of the Vin Diesel film

Written by Mikey Sutton

Any trailer with Vin Diesel's face getting blown off is certainly an attention getter.

For writer Kevin VanHook, it's the fulfillment of a dream that has been floating in the back of his mind for decades. VanHook co-created Bloodshot with Bob Layton and Don Perlin in the early '90s during the commercial explosion of Valiant Comics. A colorful, thrilling character that was more edgy and intelligent than its Image competition at the time, Bloodshot -- an ex-soldier with the power to regenerate and meta-morph due to the nanites injected in his blood -- has since become an iconic character from that era. Brought to exuberant life by Diesel, Sony is hoping that the upcoming movie adaptation (it'll be released on February 21, 2020) will ignite a successful franchise.

Mikey Sutton: How did you feel seeing the Bloodshot trailer for the first time?

VanHook: Pretty incredible, really. Seeing the finished trailer post online was one more major milestone in making the journey from concept and comic book to movie all the more real. I thought the team did a wonderful job with the VFX and pacing of the piece and it shows off our incredible cast.

Sutton: Were you asked to have any creative involvement in the movie?

VanHook: I was involved a little along the way. Mostly feedback on decisions that were already made. I would have loved to have had a shot at doing a draft of the script at some point or even a treatment, but that didn’t happen. As it was, I was able to give some notes here and there and most of my thoughts lined up with the filmmakers, so they were implemented.

Sutton: What projects do you have planned for the future?

VanHook: I’m currently developing a comic book series with artist Alex Sarabia. He’s an incredibly talented guy out of Mexico City. The project is called The Fifth Horseman and it’s something I’m really excited about. I’m also starting to write a pilot for a dark thriller series called Savante. On a day to day basis, I keep my hand in Visual Effects and filmmaking in general. I’m currently editing a horror film called Beyond Paranormal that my team will be doing the VFX for. In comics, DC and I have been in preliminary talks about me writing something again, which I look forward to.

Sutton: You've seen DC and Marvel characters onscreen for decades, but now it's your turn. Did you ever imagine Bloodshot having such a life in the early ‘90s?

VanHook: I can’t say I did. If anything, I thought it might have become an animated series. To see it grow into a major studio film is pretty mind-blowing.

Sutton: When was the last time you wrote Bloodshot? Do you have more stories you want to tell about him? VanHook: I did an eight-page story for the Valiant Masters collection of the first eight issues of my series. It was great to team up with Bloodshot co-creator Don Perlin again and do a new story. I do have more Bloodshot stories to tell. It’s been an interesting ride along the way and I’d love to do more with the character.

Sutton: How did the creation of Bloodshot come about?

VanHook: A complex question, but the nutshell version is that Bob Layton, Don Perlin and I created the character. Bob brought aspects like the idea of utilizing nanites— I created the Angelo Mortalli character and the Mafia connection and the two of us developed Project Rising Spirit with Don handling the art chores and doing design work. I pushed to keep Bloodshot’s memories a blank slate— frankly to give me time to figure out who he was.

Sutton: When did you find out that the character was optioned for a film?

VanHook: I actually got the word from Dinesh Shamdasani several years ago about the option just before an article appeared in The Hollywood Reporter. That may have been as far back as 2014.

Sutton: What was your reaction when you discovered Vin Diesel had the title role?

VanHook: I thought he was a great choice. I had loved him in the Riddick Films and Saving Private Ryan as well as his big franchise— The Fast and the Furious.

Sutton: How would you describe your experiences at Valiant Comics in the speculator boom of the ‘90s?

VanHook: I had a great time during that era. Every now and then, we may be lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time and if we’re luckier still, we’re prepared to take advantage of the timing. That was my case. I had been working in comics since I was 17, but it wasn’t until about nine years later with Valiant that I had massive success. I was there to ride the wave of the company’s success and contribute to it with my writing on Bloodshot, Solar and Eternal Warrior as regular books and help guide the Valiant Universe as Executive Editor. Bob Layton and I worked closely together to try and keep the books’ incredibly tight continuity and I think that helped contribute to our popularity. The artists and writers in-house were an incredibly talented bunch of folks and I consider them family. We vacationed together, we hung out at each others’ homes and there was a mutual respect and affection for each other. I’m glad to say that I’m still friends with most of those people to this day. Our rapid rise in sales can’t be understated. We went from selling 25,000 copies of average titles to several hundred thousand copies per issue. Bloodshot #1 was close to a million. That commercial success brought a certain amount of notoriety and attention that felt like a nice reward for all the hard work.