Universal Pictures

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Universal Pictures has picked up the rights to cult comic book COBALT 60, with Zack Snyder attached to direct the adaptation. Snyder also is attached to produce with Debbie Snyder.

Taking place in a postapocalyptic world inhabited by mutants and fantastical creatures, the story follows the masked hero Cobalt 60, who embarks on a quest to avenge his parents, who were murdered by the evil Strontium 90.

Underground artist Vaughn Bode created COBALT 60 and its characters in 1968, but after one story the characters languished in obscurity. Bode's son, Mark, picked up his father's mantle in the 1980s, reviving the trippy art style and violence. The stories, plotted by Larry Todd, were published in comics magazine Epic Illustrated.

A search for a writer is under way.

Snyder is behind Warner Bros. Pictures' upcoming adaptation of the epic Frank Miller graphic novel 300.