Stories by @michaelcosby

Doug Liman's Dark Universe

In a world rotting from within, chain-smoking occult detective John Constantine is reluctantly drawn into a supernatural apocalypse when the ancient force known as the Rot begins consuming reality. Forced to reunite with his former lover, the powerful sorceress Zatanna, alongside the ghostly Deadman, the demon-cursed knight Jason Blood, and the enigmatic Madame Xanadu, Constantine must confront his own damnation—and the ghost of a little girl he failed to save—to stop the Lord of Decay, Anton Arcane, from plunging existence into eternal darkness, even if it costs him his soul.

Stephen Herek's Tomb Raider

When a ruthless Australian tycoon murders her mentor for a fabled treasure map, Lara Croft—a brilliant aristocrat and adventurer—tracks him from the Peruvian jungle to the lost Incan city of El Dorado. With the help of a cynical American guide, she must decipher ancient booby traps, survive deadly assassins, and unlock the secret of the Black Veil: a mythical device that can transmute matter into gold—or plutonium. Racing across oceans and into the heart of the Andes, Lara fights not only for fortune but to honor a fallen friend, confront the ghosts of her parents' tragic death, and stop a madman from flooding the world with weapons of mass destruction.

Andy Fickman's Jonny Quest

When brilliant scientist Dr. Benton Quest is kidnapped by the scarred ex‑KGB operative Korchek, his rebellious teenage son Jonny and reluctant bodyguard Race Bannon must track him to a hidden Soviet silo in Cuba. There, Korchek and Quest's former colleague, Jeremiah Surd, are using Quest's own non‑lethal weapon technology to unlock the Brahmastra—an ancient Hindu super‑weapon capable of untold destruction. Racing against time with the help of the mystical street‑kid Hadji and the lethal femme fatale Jade, Jonny and Race must stop Korchek from launching the weapon and destroying the eastern seaboard—while Jonny finally confronts the truth about his mother's murder and his strained relationship with his father.

Roberto Orci's Power Rangers

When five troubled Angel Grove teens—hotheaded Jason, brainy Billy, insecure Zack, rigid Trini, and punk-rock Kim—stumble upon an alien crash site, they're thrust into an ancient war. Recruited by the diminutive, wise Zordon, they become the Power Rangers, inheriting armored suits and giant robotic Zords. Their mission: stop the escaped criminal Rita Repulsa and her monstrous Dominators from retrieving a powerful scepter. But when Rita steals the scepter, drains Zordon's life force, and initiates a planetary core-leech that will destroy Earth, the rookie Rangers must overcome their personal demons, work as a team, and form the legendary Megazord to save their world—and each other—from total annihilation.

Man of Steel: Knight Falls

When the Man of Steel intervenes in a global conflict between the Atlantean King Orin and the Russian military, he draws the ire of the world's leaders and the attention of Metropolis billionaire Lex Luthor, who manipulates global fear to turn humanity against the alien hero. Meanwhile, the Dark Knight of Gotham—still haunted by the loss of his adopted son—sees Superman as a dangerous threat that must be eliminated. As Luthor orchestrates a deadly conspiracy that pits the two heroes against each other, Wonder Woman emerges from the shadows to warn of a greater enemy. But when Luthor unleashes a monstrous weapon of Kryptonian origin, Superman must make the ultimate sacrifice to save the city he swore to protect, proving that even a god can fall—and that hope can rise from the ashes.

Dante's Inferno by Fede Álvarez

A young Florentine poet, Dante Alighieri, returns from the Crusades to find his beloved Beatrice murdered by his treacherous patron, Philipi Argenti, who has stolen her soul to Hell. Armed with the sacred Harrowing Pass—Christ's relic for traveling between realms—Dante descends through the nine circles of the Inferno. Guided by the poet Virgil, he battles demons and lost souls while confronting his own sins. Racing against time to save Beatrice before her mortal body dies, Dante must outwit Argenti, survive the wrath of Lucifer himself, and discover that true redemption requires sacrificing everything for love.

Marcus Nispel's Alice

In this dark reimagining, Alice, institutionalized after allegedly burning her family alive as a child, is transferred to a sinister hospital where Dr. Hatfield plans experimental brain surgery. As Alice's medication is withdrawn, her childhood Wonderland—once a place of joy—returns as a decaying nightmare realm. Haunted by a creepy young version of herself, Alice must navigate this twisted Wonderland, confronting the Mad Hatter, the Cheshire Cat, and the monstrous Queen of Hearts, all while uncovering the horrifying truth: her aunt is the Queen, who murdered Alice's family and framed her. With the help of a sympathetic doctor, Alice must fight to escape both the asylum and her own fractured mind.

Tony Scott's Gears of War

Sergeant Marcus Fenix finally returns home to a planet at peace—only for the ground to split open after 79 years of war. A subterranean army called the Locust Horde erupts across the world, killing billions. Marcus loses his best friend Dom Santiago’s entire family in the attack, including Dom’s wife Maria. Forced to retreat to the last human stronghold of Jacinto, Marcus must confront his estranged father Adam, a scientist who secretly knows the Locust come from the Hollow—and that he sent Marcus’s mother there to die. When Adam is trapped underground, Marcus disobeys orders to rescue him, leading to a final stand where the Hammer of Dawn rains fire from the sky. Adam dies in Marcus’s arms, having finally said he’s sorry. But as Marcus is marched to prison for his defiance, General Raam watches from the shadows. The war has only begun.

Gore Verbinski's Bioshock

After fleeing his predetermined life, a young man named Jack survives a plane crash only to discover an underwater utopia called Rapture, now a decaying nightmare. Guided by a mysterious Irishman named Atlas, Jack is hunted by mutated addicts called Splicers. He injects a powerful substance called ADAM to survive, unlocking hidden combat skills he never knew he possessed. As he fights to escape, Jack uncovers a devastating truth: his entire identity is a fabricated lie implanted by Atlas. His real father is Rapture’s tyrannical founder, Andrew Ryan, and the trigger phrase “would you kindly” forces him to obey any command, forcing Jack to commit patricide before confronting his puppet master in a final, monstrous battle for freedom.

Jim Cameron's Spider-Man

Awkward Queens teen Peter Parker gains spider-like powers after a lab accident. As the masked vigilante Spider-Man, he battles his own rage and guilt after his beloved Uncle Ben is killed by a carjacker Peter could have stopped. Donning a red-and-blue costume, he faces the electrified billionaire Carlton Strand and his sandy enforcer Boyd, who tempt Peter toward darkness. With help from his loving Aunt May and his girlfriend Mary Jane Watson, Peter rejects Strand’s amoral vision, defeats him atop the World Trade Center, and learns that with great power must also come great responsibility.

The Wachowskis' Batman: Year One

After witnessing his parents’ murder as a child, a dynamic and isolated Bruce Wayne returns to Gotham City following years of worldwide training. Wearing a makeshift hockey mask, a near-fatal fight with a pimp forces him to question his crusade—until a bat crashes through his window, inspiring his dark new identity. As Batman battles corrupt cops, the Roman’s mob, and a cunning Catwoman, Captain Jim Gordon fights to clean the GCPD from within. After Gordon’s daughter is kidnapped, the unlikely allies corner Falcone. The year ends with a madman’s evil grin on a speedboat, hinting at a far greater menace to come.

David S. Goyer's Green Arrow: Escape from Super Max

After being framed for murder, billionaire vigilante Oliver Queen—the Green Arrow—is sentenced to the inescapable Supermax Penitentiary for metahumans. Stripped of his wealth, costume, and identity, he must survive a brutal prison population that wants him dead while being hunted by the ruthless warden, Amanda Waller. With the help of unexpected allies—including a broken Pied Piper, a resentful Icicle, and a shape-shifter named Gemini—Queen orchestrates a daring escape to clear his name and expose the real killer: his own best friend. But to succeed, he must sacrifice his old self and become something far more dangerous.

Michael Dougherty's The Man of Steel

After a near-fatal encounter with kryptonite, Superman learns he fathered a son, Jason, with Lois Lane—now engaged to Richard White. A crystalline Kryptonian woman, Kem-L, arrives claiming to be the last survivor of his homeworld, but her true goal is to rebuild Krypton by terraforming Earth and purging humanity. As Kem-L unleashes catastrophic meteor showers and black kryptonite smoke across the globe, Superman must fight his equal while Lex Luthor manipulates the U.S. government into embracing his anti-Superman agenda. The Man of Steel ultimately sacrifices himself by dragging Kem-L into the Sun, saving humanity and securing a future for his son.

J.J. Abrams' Superman: Flyby

After Krypton falls to a civil war, the infant Kal-El is rocketed to Earth, where the Kents raise him as Clark. Now a young man working at the Daily Planet, Clark uncovers his Kryptonian heritage and a living suit that unlocks his powers. When his murderous cousin Ty-Zor arrives with an elite squad to destroy Superman, Clark must embrace his destiny. Meanwhile, paranoid CIA operative Lex Luthor secretly plots to eliminate the alien “threat,” leading to a final battle that forces Superman to sacrifice everything — and return from the dead to save the world.

John McTiernan's Batman III

When the Riddler—a spurned WayneTech genius who has invented a device that steals human intelligence—teams up with the scarred, schizoid Harvey “Two-Face” Dent to drain Gotham City’s collective mind, Batman must confront his deepest childhood fears. With the help of a grief-stricken young circus acrobat, Dick Grayson, who becomes his partner Robin, Bruce Wayne races to stop the villains before the entire city is lobotomized. A dark, surreal nightmare of split identities and technological terror.

Rupert Wyatt's Gambit

When a heist gone wrong exposes young mutants Remy Lebeau and Belladonna Boudreaux as superpowered outlaws, their rival New Orleans crime families erupt into a bloody decade-long war. Remy’s surrogate father is murdered, and he is cast out, becoming a reckless international thief. Years later, the enigmatic geneticist Nathaniel Essex offers Remy forty million dollars to steal back a mysterious trunk from Belladonna’s mother—a job that forces Remy to reunite with his estranged crew, reconcile with Bella, and infiltrate the legendary Thieves Ball. But the trunk contains a terrifying secret that ties Remy’s own dark origins to Essex’s sinister mutant-breeding compound, forcing Remy to choose between revenge, redemption, and the family he lost.

Chris Columbus' Daredevil: The Man Without Fear

After a radioactive accident blinds young Matt Murdock, his remaining senses sharpen to superhuman levels. He trains his body and mind, becoming a lawyer by day to fight injustice. When his father, boxer Jack Murdock, is murdered for refusing to throw a fight, Matt dons a red costume and becomes Daredevil, the "Man Without Fear." As he wages war on crime lord Wilson Fisk, he falls for Elektra Natchios — a Greek heiress and martial artist with a dark past tied to Fisk's assassin, Bullseye. Torn between justice and vengeance, Daredevil must defeat the Kingpin and save Elektra's soul before Hell's Kitchen burns.

Paul W.S. Anderson's Castlevania

In 1576, the vampire lord Dracul’a awaits the reincarnation of his beloved wife, who was burned as a witch. When the gypsy thief Aurica—her living image—wanders into his castle, he seduces her. Meanwhile, the monster hunter Simon Belmont and his reckless brother Cristofor seek to stop Dracul’a. After a wolf bites Cristofor, he slowly transforms into a vampire, forcing Simon to kill him. Dracul’a drains Aurica, but Simon impales the vampire with a crucifix. Aurica survives the encounter but she is forever changed, rising as the new master of the castle for centuries to come.

Raja Gosnell's Fantastic Four

In the near future, brilliant but socially awkward scientist Reed Richards secures funding from billionaire Raymond Pace for a Mars mission. Alongside Reed’s pilot and best friend Ben Grimm, Pace’s representative Sue Storm, and her reckless younger brother Johnny, they travel to an orbital station. There, Reed’s partner Victor Vandam has developed self-replicating nanotech—which he has secretly tested on himself. When Victor sabotages the station to steal the technology, a catastrophic explosion exposes the four to the nanoagents. They miraculously survive but gain extraordinary abilities: Reed can stretch his body, Sue can turn invisible and project force fields, Johnny can engulf himself in flames, and Ben is transformed into a monstrous, rock-skinned creature. Meanwhile, Victor’s body is overtaken by the rogue nanotech, turning him into the metallic megalomaniac Dr. Doom. As Doom threatens to consume New York City, the four must embrace their new identities—Reed as Mr. Fantastic, Sue as the Invisible Woman, Johnny as the Human Torch, and Ben as the Thing—to stop him. Along the way, Ben finds acceptance from a blind sculptor, Alicia Masters, while Reed and Sue discover love amidst the chaos.

Kevin Smith's Superman Lives

When Krypton’s computer tyrant Brainiac arrives on Earth seeking the Eradicator—a shape-shifting Kryptonian AI—he blocks out the sun, weakening Superman and enabling Lex Luthor to orchestrate the Man of Steel’s apparent death at the hands of the monster Doomsday. While Metropolis falls under Brainiac’s control and Lois Lane exposes Luthor’s lies, a resurrected Superman dons a black recovery suit and, with the self-sacrificing Eradicator’s help, destroys the sun-blocking ShadowCaster, defeats Brainiac, and exposes Luthor’s conspiracy, restoring his powers and reaffirming his love for Lois.