Though he certainly has the comic book writing credentials to do so, we probably won’t be seeing Kevin Smith directing a superhero movie at a major studio any time soon. After ‘Tusk’ wasn’t as warmly received by critics, the closest thing will apparently be ‘Yoga Hosers’, the second film in his True North Trilogy starring Harley Quinn Smith and Lily-Rose Depp. But just because he might not get the opportunity doesn’t mean that the filmmaker doesn’t have some ideas. And we’re talking more than just Bluntman and Chronic here too.

The Hollywood Reporter shares that Smith was in attendance at the PGA’s Produced By conference in Los Angeles to talk about bouncing back from his hiatus from making movies by telling stories that only he could tell. After touching on his upcoming projects like ‘Yoga Hosers,’ ‘Clerks III,’, and ‘MallBrats,’ the cult classic director expressed that it probably isn’t in the cards for him to adapt any big name comic book properties for the big screen. However, if he were afforded the opportunity, he says that he’d love to put a “noir-ish thriller” spin on DC Comics hero The Question:

“I always thought if you were in an alley and f—ing Batman showed up you’d be like, ‘Oh f—, Batman.’ But if a dude shows up with no features and starts punching you, you would probably kill yourself in fear.”

Created in 1967 by Spider-Man co-creator Steve Ditko, Vic Sage AKA The Question is similar to Batman in that he fights crime in a gang-riddled, corrupt city with an intimidating look (which includes a mask that gives the appearance of having no face) and no superpowers (outside of his martial arts and investigative journalism skills). With those attributes alone, the character would make for an interesting presence on the silver screen.

But earlier in the conversation, Smith mentions that he can’t take his daughter (who is named after the iconic Gotham villain) to comic book movies these days because “there’s nothing up there for her.” So in the hypothetical situation that he did actually direct a Question movie for DC and Warner Bros., I wouldn’t be surprised if he took the New 52 route with the character and placed Renee Montoya’s Question front and center while Vic Sage is her mentor. By applying his take on the hero to the Montoya version, I think that he could really be onto something here that would be pretty unique to take his daughter to while having appeal across the board for long-time DC fans and casual moviegoers alike.

Do you think that Kevin Smith would do a good job with a superhero movie starring The Question? If the character were to appear on the big screen, would you rather see Vic Sage or Renee Montoya under the mask? Let us know in the comments below.