Syfy Unveils a New Phantom Menace

Did I tell you guys that Syfy — formerly the channel more reasonably known as Sci-Fi — is doing a new Phantom movie? I can’t remember if I did, but they are. And in case you were worried that the TV movie would end up like this…

…that is, the incredibly forgettable 1996 movie starring Billy Zane, don’t be worried, because apparently Syfy’s new Phantom is going to look like this:

…huh. From Scifi Wire:

Here’s how Muse Entertainment describes the Phantom’s suit: “The
Phantom’s body suit is woven of a high-tech, nano-matrix, dark purple
fabric, which is pliable, soft and also glitters with a dark metallic
sheen. The fabric is a layered micro-weave of Kevlar, Twaron and
Heracron fibers, skinned with a titanium-ceramic alloy
neurosymbioticmesh, resistant to heat, bladed weapons, falls, impacts
and small-arms fire.

“The nano-matrix fabric actually receives and amplifies intra-muscular
nerve transmissions from the person wearing the suit to affect its
density and movement–similar to modern bio-electronic prosthetics. Like
an insect’s exoskeleton, the mesh amplifies by a factor of 2.5 times
the Phantom’s normal output.

I’m kind of conflicted about this. If there’s one superhero whose essence is rooted in his weird, nonsensical ancient origin and lack of technological powers, it’s the Phantom, isn’t it? On the other hand, I doubt I’d watch a straight Phantom movie, but I might watch this just to see what they do with it. Right now, the only thing I’m sure of is that Syfy just wants to make a TV movie of The Dark Knight, but the only superhero license they could afford is The Phantom.