Jonah Hex (film)

During the American Civil War, Jonah Hex (Josh Brolin) serves as a Confederate cavalryman until his commanding officer Quentin Turnbull (John Malkovich) orders him to burn down a hospital. Hex refuses, and is forced to kill his best friend, Turnbull's son Jeb. After the war, Turnbull and his enforcer Burke (Michael Fassbender) force Hex to watch his house burn down with his wife and son inside. Turnbull brands Hex's face with his initials and leaves him to die. Native Americans revive Jonah with mystic powers, giving him the ability to temporarily resurrect the dead. When Turnbull apparently dies in a hotel fire, Hex satisfies his hunger for vengeance as a bounty hunter and sears half his face to remove the brand.

In 1876, Turnbull, having survived, hijacks a train carrying components of an experimental "superweapon," slaughtering guards and passengers. President Grant (Aidan Quinn) surmises that Turnbull is planning a terrorist attack for the American Centennial on the Fourth of July, and instructs Army Lieutenant Grass (Will Arnett) to hire Hex to stop Turnbull.

Hex spends a night with Lilah (Megan Fox), a prostitute with ulterior motives. Grass's men arrive and reveal Turnbull is still alive. Hex is brought to one of Turnbull's captured thugs, who dies during interrogation. Hex briefly resurrects the man, who knows only that he was recruited by ex-Confederate Colonel Slocum (Tom Wopat), the owner of an illegal deathmatch pavilion in South Carolina.

With the help of corrupt Washington aristocrat Adleman Lusk (Wes Bentley), Turnbull steals the remaining components of the weapon invented by Eli Whitney.

When Hex confronts Slocum in South Carolina, Slocum refuses to talk, sarcastically telling Hex to ask Jeb where his father is. Hex overpowers Slocum's men and throws him into the ring to be killed by his own fighters. Setting fire to the pavilion, Hex frees a dog tormented by Slocum's handlers, and it follows him.

In a Gettysburg cemetery, Hex digs up and resurrects Jeb (an uncredited Jeffrey Dean Morgan). He apologizes for killing Jeb, telling him his father must be stopped before he murders more people. Before returning to the afterlife, Jeb reveals his father is at Fort Resurrection.

At the fort, Hex confronts Turnbull and kills several of his men, but Turnbull escapes and Hex is critically wounded by Burke. He collapses in a field, hovering near death for several days. Turnbull, anticipating Hex's return, sends Burke to bring him "something Hex loves," and Burke kidnaps Lilah. Turnbull tests the "superweapon" on a small town in Georgia, leveling it to the ground and killing hundreds. Grant realizes authorities have neither any idea where Turnbull will strike, nor the military manpower to guard every centennial celebration.

Hex's Native American allies find him and perform a ceremony that heals him. He relays a message to Lt. Grass that Turnbull plans to attack Washington, D.C., then rides to Independence Harbor alone to stop him. Hex infiltrates the harbor where Turnbull's ironclad warship is anchored, overpowering and killing Burke, then resurrects him just to incinerate his body completely. Turnbull holds Lilah at gunpoint and forces Hex to surrender. With Hex and Lilah captive in the hold of his ship, Turnbull steams toward Washington. A monitor commanded by Lt. Grass intercepts Turnbull, but is quickly destroyed by the superweapon.

Lilah frees herself and Hex, holding off the guards while he races to stop Turnbull. Turnbull gains the upper hand and orders the weapon be fired, but Hex jams its belt feeder, trapping the trigger shell. He brutally beats Turnbull and traps his neck in a gear and then saves Lilah. They jump into the water just as the trigger shell ignites, killing Turnbull and his men. The next day, President Grant gives Hex a large reward and a full pardon, and offers him a job as Sheriff of the entire United States. Hex declines, but assures the president they can find him if they need him; he leaves the city with Lilah. The film ends with Hex visiting Jeb's grave to apologize for his father's death before riding off.

• Josh Brolin as Jonah Hex: A disfigured bounty hunter who is the film's antihero protagonist.[5] Brolin initially hated the script, but changed his mind after growing to like its tongue-in-cheek tone.[6]
• John Malkovich as Quentin Turnbull: The main antagonist who murdered Jonah Hex's family and disfigured the former.[7]
• Megan Fox as Lilah Black: A gun-wielding prostitute and Jonah's love interest whose real name is Tallulah Black just like in the comics, but goes by Lilah for short and doesn't have scars on her body or a missing left eye unlike her comics counterpart.[8]
• Michael Fassbender as Burke: A bowler hat-wearing, tattooed and psychopathic Irishman who is Turnbull's right-hand man. Fassbender likens his character to that of The Riddler and Malcolm McDowell's performance in A Clockwork Orange, saying he mainly found his character when he tried on the derby bowler.[9]
• Will Arnett as Lieutenant Grass: A Union soldier who enlists Hex as a bounty hunter.[10]
• Michael Shannon as Dr. Cross Williams: The ringleader of a gladiator circus. The studio planned to have Williams in a recurring character if a sequel surfaced.[10]
• Wes Bentley as Adleman Lusk: A corrupt politician.
• Aidan Quinn as Ulysses S. Grant: The 18th President of the United States (Quinn was on set for only 3 days for this role).
• Lance Reddick as Smith: An armorer of sorts who supplies Hex with his new weapons.

The film also includes John Gallagher, Jr. as Lieutenant Evan, Tom Wopat as Colonel Slocum, and Julia Jones as Cassie; as well as an uncredited Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Jeb Turnbull. Mastodon guitarist/vocalist Brent Hinds also made a small cameo appearance.[11]

Prior to Brolin's casting, actor Thomas Jane petitioned the studio for the role by hiring a makeup artist to give him the appearance of Jonah Hex. Jane instead voiced Hex in the 2010 animated short DC Showcase: Jonah Hex.[12]

Josh Brolin, Megan Fox and Michael Fassbender promoting the film at the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con International

In 2000, 20th Century Fox developed a one-hour television adaptation based on the character, with producers Akiva Goldsman and Robert Zappia involved, but the project never came to fruition.[13] In July 2007, Warner Bros. held the film rights to the character and sought to make a film. Goldsman paired with Andrew Lazar as producers, and Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor wrote the screenplay,[14] which adapted an incarnation of the comic books that combined the Western genre with supernatural elements.[15] In October 2008, Josh Brolin entered talks to be cast as Jonah Hex under the direction of Neveldine and Taylor.[16] In November 2008, Neveldine and Taylors stepped down from being directors due to creative differences with the studio.[17] The studio explored the possibility of hiring Andy Fickman or McG and by January 2009, it chose Jimmy Hayward (who previously directed Horton Hears a Who!) to direct Jonah Hex.[15] By the following February, Brolin was set to star alongside John Malkovich, who was cast as the antagonist Quentin Turnbull.[5] Filming began in Louisiana in April 2009.[10]

Jonah Hex was released in the United States on June 18, 2010, the same day as Disney/Pixar's Toy Story 3.

As of September 2019, Warner Bros. was reporting development of a new Jonah Hex movie that will be a reboot and part of the DC Extended Universe.[32]

• Official website
• Jonah Hex at IMDb
• Jonah Hex at Box Office Mojo
• Jonah Hex at Rotten Tomatoes
• Jonah Hex at Metacritic