Zak Penn | |
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 Penn at the 2017 San Diego Comic-Con | |
| Born | March 23, 1968 New York, U.S. |
| Occupation | Screenwriter |
Zak Penn (born March 23, 1968) is an American screenwriter. [1] Penn wrote and directed Incident at Loch Ness and The Grand , wrote the script for The Incredible Hulk, co-wrote the scripts for X2 , X-Men: The Last Stand , and the story for The Avengers . With Michael Karnow, Penn is the co-creator of the TV series Alphas on the Syfy network. [2]
Penn was born in New York. He is the son of New York businessman and lawyer Arthur Penn, who led the acquisition of the Capital Markets Assurance Corporation from Citicorp. [3]
Zak Penn graduated from Wesleyan University in 1990. His screenplay for PCU was based on his experiences at the Eclectic Society house.
Films that Penn has been involved in writing include Last Action Hero , X2 , X-Men: The Last Stand , and Elektra . Penn wrote early drafts of Hulk , The Incredible Hulk , The Avengers and Free Guy .
Penn is also a jury member for the digital studio Filmaka, a platform for undiscovered filmmakers to show their work to industry professionals. [4]
In July 2012, Avatar Press released the first issue of Penn's first comic book, Hero Worship. The six-issue series is co-written with Star Wars: The Clone Wars screenwriter Scott Murphy and drawn by Michael DiPascale. It centers on Zenith, an indestructible hero who has fans following every disaster, trying to catch a glimpse of the ultimate celebrity and risking their own lives in the process. One fan becomes so obsessed that it leads to the development of his own powers.
He directed the documentary film Atari: Game Over .
| Year | Title | Credited as | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Director | Writer | |||
| 1993 | Last Action Hero | No | Story | Co-story writer with Adam Leff |
| 1994 | PCU | No | Yes | Co-screenwriter with Adam Leff |
| 1997 | Men in Black | No | Uncredited | [5] |
| 1998 | Antz | No | Uncredited | Story consultant |
| 1999 | Inspector Gadget | No | Yes | Co-screenwriter with Kerry Ehrin |
| 2000 | Charlie's Angels | No | Uncredited | Script revisions |
| 2001 | Behind Enemy Lines | No | Yes | Co-screenwriter with David Veloz |
| 2002 | Reign of Fire | No | Uncredited | [6] |
| 2003 | X2 | No | Story | Co-story writer with David Hayter and Bryan Singer |
| 2004 | Incident at Loch Ness | Yes | Yes | Directorial debut; co-screenwriter with Werner Herzog; on-screen appearance |
| Suspect Zero | No | Yes | Co-screenwriter Billy Ray | |
| 2005 | Elektra | No | Yes | Co-screenwriter with Stu Zicherman and Raven Metzner |
| 2006 | X-Men: The Last Stand | No | Yes | Co-screenwriter with Simon Kinberg |
| 2007 | The Grand | Yes | Yes | Co-screenwriter with Matt Bierman |
| 2008 | The Incredible Hulk | No | Yes | Story; with uncredited screenwriting rewrites by Edward Norton |
| 2012 | The Avengers | No | Story | Co-story writer with Joss Whedon |
| 2014 | Atari: Game Over | Yes | No | Documentary; on-screen appearance |
| 2018 | Ready Player One | No | Yes | Co-screenwriter with Ernest Cline |
| 2021 | Free Guy | No | Yes | Co-screenwriter with Matt Lieberman |
| Year | Title | Credited as | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Writer | Producer | Showrunner | Creator | |||
| 2011–2012 | Alphas | Yes | Executive | No | Yes | Co-created with Michael Karnow |
| 2023 | Beacon 23 | Yes | Executive | Yes | Yes | |
| Year | Title | Credited as | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Creative director | Writer | Technical director | |||
| 2005 | Fantastic Four | No | Yes | No | Credited for game story and dialogue |
| 2006 | X-Men: The Official Game | No | Yes | No | Credited for screenplay |
Peter Allen David, often abbreviated PAD, is an American writer of comic books, novels, television, films and video games. His notable comic book work includes an award-winning 12-year run on The Incredible Hulk, as well as runs on Aquaman, Young Justice, SpyBoy, Supergirl, Fallen Angel, Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2099, Captain Marvel and X-Factor.
X2 is a 2003 American superhero film directed by Bryan Singer and written by Michael Dougherty, Dan Harris and David Hayter, from a story by Singer, Hayter and Zak Penn. The film is based on the X-Men superhero team appearing in Marvel Comics. It is the sequel to X-Men (2000), as well as the second installment in the X-Men film series, and features an ensemble cast including Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellen, Halle Berry, Famke Janssen, James Marsden, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, Brian Cox, Alan Cumming, Bruce Davison, Shawn Ashmore, Aaron Stanford, Kelly Hu, and Anna Paquin. The plot, inspired by the graphic novel God Loves, Man Kills, concerns the genocidal Colonel William Stryker leading an assault on Professor Xavier's school to build his own version of Xavier's mutant-tracking computer, Cerebro, in order to destroy every mutant on Earth and to save the human race from them, forcing the X-Men to team up with the Brotherhood of Mutants to stop Stryker and save the mutant race.
Hulk is a 2003 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name, created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Produced by Universal Pictures in association with Marvel Enterprises, Valhalla Motion Pictures, and Good Machine, and distributed by Universal, it was directed by Ang Lee and written by James Schamus, Michael France, and John Turman, from a story conceived by Schamus. The film stars Eric Bana as Bruce Banner and Hulk, alongside Jennifer Connelly, Sam Elliott, Josh Lucas, and Nick Nolte. The film explores Bruce Banner's origins. After a lab accident involving gamma radiation, he transforms into a giant green-skinned humanoid with superhuman strength known as the Hulk whenever stressed or emotionally provoked. The United States military pursues him, and he clashes with his biological father, who has dark plans for his son.
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Uncanny X-Men, originally published as The X-Men, is an American comic book series published by Marvel Comics since 1963, and is the longest-running series in the X-Men comics franchise. It features a team of superheroes called the X-Men, a group of mutants with superhuman abilities led and taught by Professor X.
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The Incredible Hulk is a 2008 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character the Hulk. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Universal Pictures, it is the second film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). It was directed by Louis Leterrier from a screenplay by Zak Penn, and stars Edward Norton as Bruce Banner alongside Liv Tyler, Tim Roth, William Hurt, Tim Blake Nelson, Ty Burrell, and Christina Cabot. In the film, Bruce Banner becomes the Hulk as an unwitting pawn in a military scheme to reinvigorate the "Super-Soldier" program through gamma radiation. Banner goes on the run from the military while attempting to cure himself of the Hulk.
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Phase One of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is a group of American superhero films produced by Marvel Studios based on characters that appear in publications by Marvel Comics. The MCU is the shared universe in which all of the films are set. The phase began in May 2008 with the release of Iron Man and concluded in May 2012 with the release of The Avengers. Kevin Feige produced every film in the phase, with Avi Arad also producing Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk, and Gale Anne Hurd also producing The Incredible Hulk.
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