In the era of superhero movies, there comes a time for every hero to be played by a Hollywood actor. For Doc Savage that actor may very well be Chris Hemsworth.

At the end of an article about director Shane Black’s involvement with a Predator reboot, the Hollywood Reporter softly broke the news that Black has met with Hemsworth to take on the role. They added that even though Sony considers the movie a priority, the film has been bogged down budgetary concerns. Doc Savage as done by Hemsworth may not even happen at all.

Which would be a shame, since Black has described the movie as “What if Jimmy Stewart were a stone-cold killer?”

Collider received some clarification on what exactly that means. “We’re shooting it as though it’s in the 30s, including all the Capra-esque elements of 1930s films like You Can’t Take It With You,” Black told them, further explaining, “Doc Savage had the abilities of a fighting machine but truly the soul of a pacifist. He always tempered his violent skills with kindness and a social conscience, preferring never to take human life. So, um, perhaps my quote should have more accurately read, ‘potential’ killer.”

Could Chris Hemsworth be about to join Shane Black's Doc Savage? http://t.co/xCF7tjzIp7 pic.twitter.com/PrLvGX2xgv

— Total Film (@totalfilm) June 25, 2014

In an interview with IGN, Shane Black explained his concept for the movie. “Obviously in the books there’s an element of ‘goody goody’ that we like… But that kind of perfect hero who never makes mistakes him great to a point and that type of adventure and the pulp it represents has been so imitated,” he explained, “So we kept it in the 30s, we beefed up the sort of rationale behind what it would take to be a perfect person and to be trained as such from childhood and how that would scar someone. And what it would take to be a parent who is capable of inflicting that on your kid.”

The last Doc Savage movie was produced in 1975. It starred Ron Ely in the title role. If you want to see a trailer for the Shane Black version, you’ll have to wait. But the 1975 trailer is ready to watch on YouTube:

Image via Wikimedia Commons.