We might now have an idea of what Nice Guys and Iron Man 3 director Shane Black will be up to once he’s done reshaping the Predator series. Speaking with The Dark Side magazine (as relayed by Screen Rant), Black’s longtime writing partner Fred Dekker recently mentioned that the duo have scripted a TV reboot of The Avengers for Warner Bros. No, not those Avengers: Dekker is talking about the cult-classic British spy show, whose best known secret agents were Patrick Macnee as the Bowler-wearing John Steed and Diana Rigg as the iconic Emma Peel. “It’s The Avengers, with John Steed and Emma Peel,” Dekker said, according to Screen Rant. “We’re setting it in Britain in the ’60s, and our approach is The Ipcress File meets Doctor Who. At this moment, it’s my favorite thing we’re working on.”
Premiering in 1961, The Avengers was at the forefront of an influential wave of British spy shows that included the likes of Danger Man (known as Secret Agent in the states) and The Man From U.N.C.L.E. It aired for six seasons between 1961 and 1969 and spawned spin-off novels, comics, radio shows, and even a short-lived revival in the ’70s. The most high-profile attempt at resurrecting the series was the disastrously bad 1998 film starring Ralph Fiennes as Steed and Uma Thurman as Peel. Fortunately, Black’s pedigree and penchant for buddy-focused action comedies makes him a great fit for The Avengers, making the biggest trouble it might run into—should it get off the ground—that name.