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Green Hornet

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For other uses, see Green Hornet (disambiguation).
"Britt Reid" redirects here. For the football coach, see Britt Reid (American football).
The Green Hornet
Van Williams as the Green Hornet.
Publication information
First appearanceThe Green Hornet radio program (January 31, 1936)
Created byGeorge W. Trendle
Fran Striker
In-story information
Alter egoBritt Reid
PartnershipsKato
Abilities

The Green Hornet is a superhero created in 1936 by George W. Trendle and Fran Striker, with input from radio director James Jewell.

Since his 1930s radio debut, the character has appeared in numerous serialized dramas in a wide variety of media. The Green Hornet appeared in film serials in the 1940s, The Green Hornet television series in the 1960s, (which costarred Bruce Lee in his first adult role), multiple comic book series from the 1940s onwards,[1] and a film in 2011.

The franchise is owned by Green Hornet, Inc., which licenses the property across a wide variety of media that includes comics, films, TV shows, radio and books. As of the 2010s, the comic-book rights are licensed to Dynamite Entertainment.[2]

History

Though various incarnations sometimes change details, in most versions the Green Hornet is the alter ego of Britt Reid (/riːd/), the wealthy young publisher of the Daily Sentinel newspaper. By night, clad in a long green overcoat, gloves, green fedora hat and green mask, Reid fights crime as the mysterious vigilante known as "The Green Hornet". He is accompanied by his loyal and similarly masked partner and confidant, Kato, who drives their technologically advanced car, the "Black Beauty". Though both the police and the general public believe the Hornet to be a wanted criminal, Reid uses that perception to help him infiltrate the underworld, leaving behind for the police the criminals and any incriminating evidence he has found.

In the original radio incarnation, Britt Reid is the son of Dan Reid Jr., the nephew of the Lone Ranger (whose first name is never given, contrary to later articles), making the Green Hornet the great-nephew of the Ranger. The relationship is alluded to at least once in the radio shows, when Dan Reid visits his son to question him on why Britt has never captured the Hornet. On learning the truth behind his son's dual identity, Dan Reid recalls his days riding with his uncle, as the William Tell Overture plays briefly and softly in the background.

Radio series

Main article: The Green Hornet (radio series)

The character debuted in The Green Hornet, an American radio program that premiered on January 31, 1936, on WXYZ, the same local Detroit station that originated its companion shows The Lone Ranger and Challenge of the Yukon.[3] Beginning on April 12, 1938, the station supplied the series to the Mutual Broadcasting System radio network, and then to NBC Blue and its successors, the Blue Network and ABC, from November 16, 1939, through September 8, 1950. It returned from September 10 to December 5, 1952.[3] It was sponsored by General Mills from January to August 1948, and by Orange Crush in its brief 1952 run.[3]

Film

Serials

The Green Hornet was adapted into two movie serials, 1940's The Green Hornet and, in 1941, The Green Hornet Strikes Again![4] Disliking the treatment Republic gave The Lone Ranger in two serials, George W. Trendle took his property to Universal Pictures, and was much happier with the results. The first serial, titled simply The Green Hornet (1940), stars Gordon Jones in the title role, albeit dubbed by original radio Hornet Al Hodge whenever the hero's mask was in place, while The Green Hornet Strikes Again! (1941) stars Warren Hull. Keye Luke, who played the "Number One Son" in the Charlie Chan films, plays Kato in both. Also starring in both serials are Anne Nagel as Lenore Case, Britt Reid's secretary, and Wade Boteler as Mike Axford, a reporter for the Daily Sentinel, the newspaper that Reid owns and publishes. Ford Beebe directed both serials, partnered by Ray Taylor on The Green Hornet and John Rawlins on The Green Hornet Strikes Again!, with George H. Plympton and Basil Dickey contributing to the screenplays for both serials. The Green Hornet runs for 13 chapters while The Green Hornet Strikes Again! has 15 installments, with the Hornet and Kato smashing a different racket in each chapter. In each serial, they are all linked to a single major crime syndicate which is itself put out of business in the finale, while the radio program had the various rackets completely independent of each other.

The Green Hornet (2006)

Main article: The Green Hornet (2006 film)

A 10-minute 2006 French short film titled Le frelon vert is based on the Green Hornet.[5]

The Green Hornet (2011)

Main article: The Green Hornet (2011 film)

A film version of the character had been contemplated since the 1990s, with Universal Pictures and Miramax each attempting to develop a film. Sony Pictures announced plans for a feature film of the superhero in 2008. Eventually, Sony Pictures, through its subsidiary Columbia Pictures, released an action-comedy Green Hornet feature on January 14, 2011, starring Jay Chou and Seth Rogen, who co-wrote the script with Superbad co-writer Evan Goldberg.[6] It was directed by Michel Gondry. Jay Chou co-starred as Kato. Also starring were Cameron Diaz as Lenore Case, Edward James Olmos as Mike Axford, David Harbour as Frank Scanlon, Christoph Waltz as the main villain Benjamin Chudnofsky, and Tom Wilkinson as James Reid.

Reboot

In 2016, Paramount Pictures and Chernin Entertainment acquired the rights to The Green Hornet and started preliminary work on developing a reboot with Gavin O'Connor as producer and director of the film and Sean O'Keefe as writer.[7] In 2020, Amasia Entertainment gained the rights of the Green Hornet[8] and officially teamed with Universal Pictures for the reboot titled Green Hornet and Kato with David Koepp writing the script.[9][10] On June 23, 2022, Deadline reported that Leigh Whannell will direct the reboot.[11]

Television

The Green Hornet (1966–1967)

Main article: The Green Hornet (TV series)

The Green Hornet is a television series shown on the ABC U.S. television network. It aired for the 1966–1967 television season and stars Van Williams as both the Green Hornet and Britt Reid, and Bruce Lee as Kato.[12][13] With his insistence on using his martial arts skills, Bruce Lee stole the show as Kato. This was the first time Asian martial arts fighting was seen on American TV. The show launched Bruce Lee's career as a popular actor in the US as well as in Hong Kong. Audience interest even led to Van Williams asking to learn some martial art moves.[14]

Williams and Lee's Green Hornet and Kato appear as anti-heroes in the second season of the Batman TV series in the two-part episode "A Piece of the Action" / "Batman's Satisfaction". The episode ended with Batman himself questioning whether or not the Green Hornet was really a criminal. Unlike the "campy" version of Batman, this version of The Green Hornet was played more seriously.

Animated series

In July 2020, Kevin Smith and WildBrain announced plans to develop a Green Hornet animated series set in the present day and focused on a reimagined Green Hornet and female Kato.[15] On February 28, 2023, Smith confirmed in an episode of Fatman Beyond that the series would be 10 episodes.[16]

Comic books

Early comics

Green Hornet comic books began in December 1940. The series, titled Green Hornet Comics published by Helnit Comics with the writing attributed to Fran Striker. The stories were loosely based on episodes of the radio show. This series ended after six issues.[17]

Several months later, Harvey Comics launched its own version, beginning with issue #7. This series lasted until issue #47 in 1949; during that time it also changed its title twice: first to Green Hornet Fights Crime (issue #34) and later to Green Hornet, Racket Buster (issue #44).

Harvey additionally used the character in the public-service one-shot War Victory Comics in 1942,[18] and gave him one adventure in each of two issues of All-New Comics, #13 (where he was also featured on the cover)[19] and #14,[20] in 1946.

In 1953, several months after the radio series ended, Dell Comics published a one-shot with the character (officially entitled Four Color #496).[21] Both stories therein share titles with late-era radio episodes ("The Freightyard Robberies", June 23, 1949; and "[The] Proof of Treason", October 17, 1952) and might be adaptations.

In 1967, Gold Key Comics produced a 3-issue series based on the TV show.[22]

NOW Comics

In 1989, NOW Comics introduced a line of Green Hornet comics, initially written by Ron Fortier and illustrated by Jeff Butler. It attempted to reconcile the different versions of the character into a multigenerational epic. This took into account the character's ancestral connection to The Lone Ranger, though due to the legal separation of the two properties, his mask covered his entire face (as in the Republic serials) and he could not be called by name.[23] In this interpretation, the Britt of the radio series had fought crime as the Hornet in the 1930s and 1940s before retiring. In NOW's first story, in Green Hornet #1 (November 1989), set in 1945, the nationality of the original Kato (named in this comic series Ikano Kato) is given as Japanese, but because of the American policy regarding the Japanese minority during World War II, Reid referred to Kato as Filipino in order to prevent Kato's being sent to an American internment camp.

The NOW comics considered the 1960s television character as the namesake nephew of the original, 1930s–1940s Britt Reid, referred to as "Britt Reid II" in the genealogy, who took up his uncle's mantle after a friend is assassinated. Britt Reid II eventually retired due to a heart attack, and Kato—given the first name Hayashi, after that of the first actor to play Kato on radio—goes on to become a star of ninja movies. The NOW comics established Hayashi Kato as Ikano Kato's son. Britt Reid's nephew, Paul Reid, a concert pianist, takes on the role of the Hornet after his older brother Alan, who had first taken on the mantle, is killed on his debut mission. Paul Reid is assisted by Mishi Kato, Hayashi's much-younger half-sister who was trained by Ikano Kato. Her being female caused problems between the publishers and the rights-holders, who withdrew approval of that character and mandated the return of "the Bruce Lee Kato".[24] After Mishi's departure—explained as orders from her father to replace an injured automobile designer at the Zürich, Switzerland, facility of the family corporation, Nippon Today—Hayashi Kato returned to crime fighting alongside the Paul Reid Green Hornet.[25] Mishi Kato returned in volume two as the Crimson Wasp, following the death of her Swiss police-officer fiancé, on orders of a criminal leader. In NOW's final two issues, vol. 2, #39–40, a fourth Kato—Kono Kato, grandson of Ikano and nephew of Hayashi and Mishi—took over as Paul Reid's fellow masked vigilante. The comics also introduced Diana Reid, the original Britt Reid's daughter, who had become district attorney after the TV series' Frank Scanlon had retired. A romantic relationship eventually formed between her and Hayashi Kato.

NOW's first series began in 1989 and lasted 14 issues. Volume Two began in 1991 and lasted 40 issues, ending in 1995 when the publisher went out of business. Kato starred solo in a four-issue miniseries in 1991, and a two-issue follow-up in 1992, both written by Mike Baron. He also wrote a third, first announced as a two-issue miniseries, then as a graphic novel, but it was never released due to the company's collapse.[citation needed]

Tales of the Green Hornet, consisting of nine issues spread out over three volumes (two, four, and three issues, respectively), presented stories of the two previous Hornets. Volume One featured Green Hornet II, and its story was plotted by Van Williams, star of the 1960s TV series, and scripted by Bob Ingersoll. The follow-ups were written by James Van Hise. Other miniseries included the three-issue The Green Hornet: Solitary Sentinel; the four-issue Sting of the Green Hornet, set during World War II and Clint McElroy's three-issue Dark Tomorrow (June–August 1993), featuring a criminal Green Hornet in 2080 being fought by the Kato of that era.[26][27]

Discounting depictions of the cars utilized by the 1940s and 1960s Hornets, there were two versions of the Black Beauty used in the NOW comic series. The first was based on the Pontiac Banshee.[28] The second was a four-door sedan based on the eleventh-generation Oldsmobile 98 Touring Sedan.[citation needed]

Dynamite Entertainment

Main article: The Green Hornet (comics)

In March 2009, Dynamite Entertainment acquired the license to produce Green Hornet comic books.[29] Its first release was a miniseries written by Kevin Smith with pencils by Jonathan Lau.[30][31] Revamped in 2010 as an ongoing series set in modern times, the new Green Hornet stars Britt Reid Jr., the rebellious and spoiled son of Britt Reid Sr., now a retired industrial and family man. When Britt Sr. is slain by the Black Hornet, a yakuza mobster whose family was shamed by the original Green Hornet, the aging but still fit Kato returns. With his daughter, Mulan Kato, who has taken over the costumed identity of her father, he brings Britt Jr. to China for training and safekeeping as he becomes the new Green Hornet. Writer Jai Nitz also wrote Green Hornet: Parallel Lives, a miniseries prequel to the 2011 Green Hornet feature film.[32]

In 2013, an eight-issue miniseries called Masks brought together famous heroes from the pulp era. It starred The Shadow, The Green Hornet and Kato, The Spider and a 1930s descendant of Zorro. It was written by Chris Roberson with art by Alex Ross and Dennis Calero.[33]

Kevin Smith and Ralph Garman wrote a crossover title, Batman '66 meets the Green Hornet, released in June 2014.[34][full citation needed]

A crossover with Miss Fury was announced in August 2024.

Comic strip

In 2018, the Green Hornet appeared in newspaper strips as a guest-star in Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis (script) and Joe Staton (art), continuing the trend of Tracy stories reviving characters from defunct strips.[35][36]

Prose fiction

Western Publishing subsidiary Whitman Books released four works of text fiction based on the character, targeting younger readers. There were three entries in the children's line of profusely illustrated Big Little Books, The Green Hornet Strikes!, The Green Hornet Returns, and The Green Hornet Cracks Down, in 1940, 1941 and 1942, respectively, all attributed to Fran Striker. In 1966, their line for older juveniles included Green Hornet: Case of the Disappearing Doctor by Brandon Keith, a tie-in to the television series. At about the same time, Dell Publishing released a mass-market paperback, The Green Hornet in The Infernal Light by Ed Friend, not only derived from the small-screen production as well, but, "allegedly based on one of the TV episodes".[37]

In 2009, Moonstone Books gained the prose license and has released three Green Hornet anthologies as part of its "Chronicles" line: The Green Hornet Chronicles, The Green Hornet Casefiles, and The Green Hornet: Still at Large.[citation needed]

Video games

The Green Hornet and Kato appears in The Green Hornet: Wheels of Justice (2010) for iPhone, based on the film.[38]

Merchandising

Few examples of Green Hornet merchandise have appeared since the 1960s. To coincide with the 2011 movie, Factory Entertainment produced six-inch action figures and a die cast Black Beauty, among other collectibles.[citation needed] Hollywood Collectibles has made a full-size prop gas gun replica.[citation needed] Mezco Toyz has made a set of 12-inch action figures, with the prototypes donated to the Museum of the Moving Image.[39]

CKE Restaurants, Inc., the parent company of Carl's Jr. and Hardee's, teamed with the studio on a promotional marketing partnership that included commercials featuring Seth Rogen and Jay Chou in character as the Green Hornet and Kato; a beverage promotion with Dr. Pepper; The Green Hornet food items, kids' meal toys, and employee uniforms; and a contest with the grand prize of the Black Beauty car from the film.[40]

In 2012, Factory Entertainment released screen accurate replicas of the Hornet Sting, Gas Gun, and Kato's Dart from the 1960's television series. A plaque signed by Van Williams was included in a limited run of "Signature Edition" replicas.[citation needed]

In June 2018, the toy company Funko released a Funko Pop figure of the Green Hornet as a Specialty Series figure.[citation needed] This was later followed up with multiple Funko Pop figures of the Green Hornet and Kato, released as exclusives at San Diego Comic-Con and New York Comic Con.[41] In January 2020, Funko announced Green Hornet and Kato figures as part of their initial SODA vinyl figure offerings with a limited run of 6000 each.[42]

In late 2021, Diamond Select Toys announced the start of a new line of Green Hornet and Kato collectible merchandise in partnership with The Green Hornet Inc. and the Bruce Lee Family.[43] Their line of collectibles include a mini bust of Kato and various action figures of Kato in different outfits.[44]

In 2022, Aurora Plastics Corporation, under their Polar Lights brand, reissued a model of the Black Beauty car from the 1960's television series.[citation needed] Aluminum Model Toys released their own model kit of the Black Beauty in the same year.[citation needed]

Art, entertainment, and media

People

References

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  2. ^ "The Official Website of The Green Hornet". The Green Hornet, Inc. Archived from the original on March 10, 2019. Retrieved August 15, 2014.
  3. ^ a b c Dunning, John (1998). On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio (Revised ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 297–299. ISBN 978-0-19-507678-3. Retrieved 2019-09-05.
  4. ^ Lidz, Franz (January 7, 2011). "Float Like a Franchise, Sting Like a..." The New York Times. Retrieved 2011-01-10.
  5. ^ "Aurelien Poitrimoult: Kato and the Green Hornet Get Ready to Sting Again!". Black Belt. Archived from the original on 2011-03-08. Retrieved 2011-01-16.
  6. ^ "The Green Hornet". Box Office Mojo.
  7. ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (November 15, 2016). "Badass 'Green Hornet'? Paramount, Chernin Set Gavin O'Connor For Movie". Deadline.
  8. ^ Boucher, Geoff (January 29, 2020). "'The Green Hornet': Amasia Chief Is All Abuzz About Superhero Acquisition". Deadline.
  9. ^ Kit, Borys (April 16, 2020). "'Green Hornet and Kato' Feature in the Works From Universal and Amasia Entertainment". The Hollywood Reporter.
  10. ^ Kit, Borys (December 10, 2020). "'Green Hornet and Kato' Movie Nabs Writer David Koepp (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter.
  11. ^ Kroll, Justin (June 23, 2022). "'Invisible Man' Director Leigh Whannell Eyeing 'Green Hornet And Kato' Pic At Universal". Deadline.
  12. ^ Boucher, Geoff (July 23, 2010). "Getting 'The Green Hornet' off the ground". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 18, 2011. Retrieved 2010-09-13.
  13. ^ Pool, Bob (May 27, 1992). "The Green Hornet Returns to Sting a Radio Pirate". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-12-07.
  14. ^ "American Heritage Center Blog: Bruce Lee Steals the Show in 'The Green Hornet'". American Heritage Center. March 16, 2020. The American Heritage Center holds the papers of William Dozier, who produced and narrated the TV series The Green Hornet, as well as the Batman TV series.
  15. ^ "Green Hornet Animated Series in the Works From Kevin Smith". CBR. 2020-07-30. Retrieved 2020-07-30.
  16. ^ "Kevin Smith Gives Update on Green Hornet Animated Series". TV Shows. March 2023. Retrieved 2023-09-17.
  17. ^ Benton, Mike (1992). Superhero Comics of the Golden Age: The Illustrated History. Dallas: Taylor Publishing Company. pp. 102–103. ISBN 0-87833-808-X. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
  18. ^ War Victory Comics at the Grand Comics Database
  19. ^ All-New Comics #13 at the Grand Comics Database
  20. ^ All-New Comics #14 at the Grand Comics Database
  21. ^ Four Color #496 at the Grand Comics Database
  22. ^ The Green Hornet at the Grand Comics Database. Accessed 2010-12-25.
  23. ^ Murray, Will (October 1989). "Where Hornets Swarm". Comics Scene (9). Starlog Communications International, Inc: 41.
  24. ^ Piron, Diane (w). "The Buzz Word (letter column)" The Green Hornet, no. 13 (November 1990). NOW Comics.
  25. ^ The Green Hornet #11 (September 1991)
  26. ^ Dark Tomorrow at the Grand Comics Database
  27. ^ "Issue 73 | Clint McElroy". September 26, 2018.
  28. ^ Weis, Joan (w). "The Buzz Word (letter column)" The Green Hornet, vol. 2, no. 9 (May 1992). NOW Comics.
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  30. ^ Bernardin, Marc (May 13, 2009). "EW Exclusive: Kevin Smith takes on Batman and the Green Hornet". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2009-08-31.
  31. ^ Green Hornet, Dynamite Entertainment, 2010 Series at the Grand Comics Database
  32. ^ "Nitz Separates 'Green Hornet: Parallel Lives'". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved 2010-12-25.
  33. ^ "Masks". Comic Vine. 2013. Retrieved 6 November 2013.
  34. ^ Kevin Smith & Ralph Garman Announce New Batman/Green Hornet Project. YouTube.com. DC Entertainment. March 11, 2014. Retrieved 2014-03-11.
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  36. ^ Sims, Chris (12 January 2017). "'Dick Tracy' Is Hanging Out With The Spirit (And More)". ComicsAlliance.
  37. ^ Weis, Joan (w). "Buzz Word (letter column)" The Green Hornet, vol. 2, no. 36 (August 1994). NOW Comics. (letter from Timothy E. Jones)
  38. ^ "The Green Hornet: Wheels of Justice". IGN. Retrieved 2023-06-15.
  39. ^ Wright, Eddie (December 16, 2010). "Mezco Donates the Green Hornet Prototype Action Figures to Museum of the Moving Image". MTV. Archived from the original on May 25, 2015.
  40. ^ "Carl's Jr. and 'The Green Hornet' Bring Action-Packed Excitement to the Drive-Thru with Sony Pictures Deal (press release)". Carl's Jr. October 8, 2010. Archived from the original on January 11, 2011.
  41. ^ Little, Jesse (September 4, 2019). "2019 NYC Exclusive Reveals: The Green Hornet and Kato".
  42. ^ Little, Jesse (January 21, 2020). "Introducing New Funko Vinyl SODA". Funko Blog.
  43. ^ "Bruce Lee's Kato Kicks Off Diamond Select Toys' Green Hornet Line [Exclusive]". /Film. 2021-09-16. Retrieved 2023-06-12.
  44. ^ Comments, Tyler Roberts | (2022-04-24). "Green Hornet's Kato Strikes Fast with New Diamond Deluxe Figure". bleedingcool.com. Retrieved 2023-06-12.
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  51. ^ Ching, Gene. "Channeling Kato: Jay Chou dons the iconic mask in Green Hornet". Kung Fu Magazine. Retrieved January 22, 2011.
  52. ^ Brown, Todd (29 June 2010). "Donnie Yen has a Question for the Makers of The Green Hornet: Why Did You Bother?". Screen Anarchy.
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  54. ^ The Glen, Regimental Newsletter of the Calgary Highlanders
  55. ^ Bercuson, David. Battalion of Heroes: The Calgary Highlanders in World War II.

Further reading

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