Zimbabwe’s Razorman Is Heading to the Big Screen

Bill Masuku’s beloved Harare is set graphic novel is getting the live-action treatment and the team behind it has franchise ambitions.

Nearly a decade after its debut, Razorman the scrappy, razor-sharp graphic novel by Zimbabwean writer and artist Bill Masuku is being developed into a live-action feature film.

The project has assembled serious firepower. The filmmakers behind Netflix’s Heart of the Hunter and Disney’s Emmy-nominated animated series Iwájú are attached, alongside producers Kugali Media, former CAA agent David Neumann’s Newmation, and Alta Global Media. According to Deadline, those involved see real franchise potential in the IP.

At its core, the story follows Lovemore, a resourceful young mechanic from Harare who moonlights as a street vigilante called Razorman. Armed with quick thinking and improvised weapons, he finds himself in a oneman war against The Thirteenth a well-connected criminal syndicate tied to his father’s unexplained death. Stylistically, the film is expected to draw from the same dark, character-driven energy as comics like V for Vendetta and Spawn.

“A decade later… this announcement feels like more than a full circle moment.”
said Bill Masuku

For Masuku, the moment carries deep personal weight. He launched the first issue of Razorman back in April 2016, at a time when the African comic book scene was still in its infancy. It sold out. In a statement, he described the announcement as going beyond full circle, and extended gratitude to everyone who supported the graphic novel over the years.

Masuku’s career since that debut has been anything but quiet. He created Runeless for Disney Hyperion under the Kugali Ink imprint, self-published Captain South Africa, and had his afromanga Tokoloshe Hunters released by Etan Comics. He also worked as a storyboard artist for Triggerfish on a Netflix project and contributed to Iwájú.

Recognition has followed. He was spotlighted at DC’s global DC FanDome event in 2020, landed a spot on Forbes Africa’s 30 Under 30 two years later, and was selected as one of 15 African comic artists for the Creation Africa FOCUS programme in France, backed by the Institut Français.

For African comics, and Zimbabwean storytelling in particular, this is a landmark moment and by the sounds of it, just the beginning.