 In October 1999, Quentin Tarantino (qv) was approached to write  and direct the film. Later, Joss Whedon (qv), a big fan of the  comic book, was in negotiations to direct the film in June 2001. In  December 2004, Nick Cassavetes (qv) was hired as a director, with  the film to release in 2006, but everything fell through. Finally,  Jon Favreau (qv) was hired as director.