Joe Johnson’s 1991 adventure The Rocketeer has become a cult classic for good reason. It completely nails the awesome costume and Streamline Moderne stylings of the comic it’s based on, and Spielberg protégé uses the pulpy ’40s vibes he picked up from his work on Raiders of the Lost Ark and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom far better than he would later apply them to Captain America: The First Avenger. It’s flawed but ideal for what it was, and perfectly cast with the likes of dashing leads Bill Campbell and Timothy Dalton alongside a dazzlingly glamorous Jennifer Connelly.
And now, after 30 years, it’s finally getting the sequel it arguably deserved.
According to Deadline, Disney+ is set to revive the would-be franchise with The Return of the Rocketeer, a film to be produced by and likely star Selma‘s David Oyelowo. But perhaps Oyelowo realized The Rocketeer already did a reasonably solid Rocketeer, because he’s flying in at a different angle: His version will reportedly see a a retired member of the largely-black Tuskegee Airmen take up the jetpack mantle.
Cuba Gooding, Jr. has twice played a Tuskegee Airman. This would be a perfect villain comeback role for him were he not an alleged sexual predator multiple times over. He will instead probably have to settle for Another Boat Trip. Whoops!
Anyway… when will Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow gets its similar due?
