Could The Rocketeer reboot / sequel actually be something else?

While I was away on holiday over the weekend, there came word that Walt Disney Studios was developing a reboot of the 1991 film, The Rocketeer. That Joe Johnston directed film starred Billy Campbell, Jennifer Connelly, Alan Arkin and Timothy Dalton. It was based on the comic by Dave Stevens and it is one of my favourites. I love the fact it is like the old serials from back in the day.

The story followed Cliff Secord, a stunt pilot who discovers a rocket pack and suit to die for and becomes embroiled with mobsters and Nazis, as well as Howard Hughes and the FBI.

According to THR the new film, called The Rocketeers, will be a sequel-reboot and will be headlined by a black female character.

The new take keeps the story in a period setting and offers a fresh view on the characters. Set six years after the original Rocketeer and after Secord has vanished while fighting the Nazis, an unlikely new hero emerges: a young African-American female pilot, who takes up the mantle of Rocketeer in an attempt to stop an ambitious and corrupt rocket scientist from stealing jet-pack technology in what could prove to be a turning point in the Cold War.

I love the fact that they are planning on having it follow the events of the original film.

When the original film was released, it only made $46.6 million, but since then it has gained in popularity and it is no surprise that Disney would begin to look at it again. However, a remake reboot had been knocking around for a while, but sources said it sought a way to differentiate it from another rocket-propelled flying hero: Iron Man.

It is that which makes me wonder whether this news is actually something more to do with Iron Man. The reason for that is to do with the changes taking place in the Iron Man comic.

Due to various events, Tony Stark is taking a step back from the suit and will act more as a creator of technology. The Iron Man suit will be taken over by Riri Williams, a young black woman. Here is what the Marvel Wiki has to say about that:

Riri Williams was born shortly after her father, Riri Williams, Sr., died. She grew up together with her sister Sharon and their mother. As a certified genius, Riri was given a free scholarship at M.I.T.. By the age of 15 she was already attending it.

What started as a challenge for herself ended up becoming a secret project to create her own suit of armor. After reverse-engineering technology from the outdated Iron Man Armor Model 41, Riri started creating her own prototype version of the Iron Man Armor, using mainly stolen material from campus. When campus security caught notice of her suspicious activities, Riri was prompted to don the suit of armor and fly away.

See what I mean? If Marvel wanted to make The Rocketeer different from Iron Man, why now follow the changes being made in the Iron Man comics?

Is The Rocketeer being rebooted or is this just a cover for a new version of Iron Man? I am more than happy for both to be true and I do like the plans for The Rocketeers, it just all seems rather similar to me.

It does seem that Marvel are looking at introducing Riri into the Marvel Cinematic Universe as one of my sources has said that Nathalie Emmanuel (Game of Thrones) has auditioned for the role.

If it is a reboot / sequel of The Rocketeer it does appear that the next big thing in Hollywood could be gender swapping older films. We’ve already had the new Ghostbusters and plans are also afoot for a new version of Splash, but with Channing Tatum in the Daryl Hannah role and Jillian Bell in the Tom Hanks role.

What are your thoughts on The Rocketeer sequel?