Yes, you heard it right. Filipinos are about to go ambitious with our very own version obviously inspired by the billion-dollar franchise of Marvel Cinematic Universe and DC Extended Universe.

While Iron Man was started by THE Robert Downey, Jr., in 2008, matinee idol James Reid will kickstart this Pinoy cinematic universe as the reimagined Pedro Penduko in summer of 2019.

In a grand reveal last week, the young actor psyched the audience with his appearance in a red leather jacket. It was an obvious reference to his Epik graphic novel counterpart, who is always clad in a red hoodie.

James’ Pedro is neither the coming-of-age action-comedy variety of Matt Evans’ or the slapstick yet loved adventure-comedy of Janno Gibbs’ two-movie series. Reid’s will be just as wholesome as his image.

The material that inspired his Pedro was Reid himself. The story was written exactly with Reid in mind. Epik’s Pedro is Peter Harris, a Filipino-American boy who grew up in the United States. He was not a popular kid; in fact, he was often bullied, but his adoptive father loved him.

Written by Epik’s in-house writer Regene Estolatan, Pedro Penduko: The Legend Begins establishes Peter as the boy who had questions about his true identity. Unlike Tony Stark, who was already the devil-may-care owner of a defense company when Iron Man was introduced, Pedro here is a young man still trying to find his place and himself.

In terms of journey, he is much more similar to Peter Parker/Spiderman or Barry Allen/The Flash, that precarious young adult phase where life and love could be overwhelming on top of the fact that the world rests on their shoulders.

Similarly, this Pedro does not deviate from Reid’s past TV and movie roles like his Clark in On The Wings of Love, among others. The only difference is the amulet that makes Pedro a superhero of sorts.

But these are just little concerns that surround this ambitious undertaking. The more important question is, how much does this movie cost?

A decade of Marvel and DC movies is a precautionary reminder for anyone who wants to make a superhero cinematic universe. The first Iron Man had a budget of US$140 million, while Justice League (2017) reportedly had a budget of US$300 million. Almost all of the movies in both universes were certified box-office hits, save for some titles that did not earn well or were heavily panned by critics.

Believers would argue that a Pinoy film should not be compared to a Hollywood film. But doesn’t this thinking negate the purpose of being ambitious?

Why does budget play a huge part in making a film? Because a film that is well-funded (especially in genres like fantasy that require a lot of visual effects and animation) won’t come out like a bootleg copy or a high school project. The latter has been a common and running joke among the young ones (read: millennials) actually. Just search the internet and it will yield some of the crudest remarks about recent Filipino superhero or fantasy films and TV shows.

Viva Communications, Inc. president and chief operating officer Vincent del Rosario shared during the launch that they have earmarked P100 million for said movie. Del Rosario’s Viva is collaborating with Cignal TV and Epik Studios to create this Epik Cinematic Universe.

Viva first partnered with Cignal TV with Sari-sari Channel in 2015. The channel is a 24-hour general entertainment cable channel carried by Cignal and Cablelink.

Epik Studios, on the other hand, is a multimedia hub established in 2015. Pedro Penduko: The Legend Begins was their first work. Its original titles include Republika, a graphic novel that tells the story of the descendants of Filipino revolutionary heroes fighting against bad people with their amulets and superpowers. Epik Studios has also acquired some of Francisco Coching’s works like Pedro Penduko, as well as some of Carlo J. Caparas’ titles.

With the partnership, some 50 titles that Epik Studios has “reimagined for the Pinoy millennial” through its graphic novels will be adapted into film or series either for release in theaters, pay TV or OTT.

Epik Studios, Inc. chief creative officer and president Paul Alexei Basinillo shares that Pedro Penduko is just one part of the Epik Universe. This is what they call the Engkanto universe.

It was confirmed during the launch that that James’ perennial love team and real-life girlfriend Nadine Lustre is playing the reimagined Maria Makiling, a warrior goddess. Those who have read the graphic novel would not be surprised to see her in the first film in the franchise and know that Maria Makiling is not just a cameo role. Since this is a cinematic universe, Maria Makiling will have her own movie in 2020.

Named film and series projects have release dates until 2028. Totoy Bato (2019), Bernardo Carpio (2020), Habagat (2021), Osyana (2020) are the league of superheroes, while a league of villains such as Alakdana (2019), Apo Dautan (2019) and Bandida (2021) are also in the drawing board.

“We want to make superhero movies, but, of course, we don’t have to necessarily copy what the MCU or DCEU has done. At the end of the day, story is still king,” said Treb Monteras, the director of Pedro Penduko.

Basinillo added: “I think, more than the budget, it’s the expertise. I mean budget is very subjective. We have to talk about idea first before the budget. We should be visionaries first before anything else.”

In a separate interview with this writer, he said that the earmarked budget for Pedro Penduko is actually beyond the norm since Filipino movies in the past cost just P20 to P30 million.

He is also confident of the talent in Epik that would be able to pull it off. Epik Studios has more or less 20 in-house and/or commissioned artists who have done projects for Marvel titles such as Black Panther and Iron Man.

Besides these superheroes, they will also have material for series such as Kiko Machine and the second season of Tabi Po 2. They will also revive and make a movie franchise of Magic Kingdom and Ninja Kids 2. Grittier content includes the OTT movie Kagat ng Dilim, which they say will be like their version of Black Mirror. They liken Bad Boy to John Wick, Kiko Machine and Tabi Po 2 are scheduled for 2019, while Ninja Kids, Magic Kingdom and Bad Boy are set for 2024, 2027 and 2028, respectively.

Are we ready for a Pinoy superhero cinematic universe? Sure we are, and we hope it exceeds expectations.