James Franco swaps Marvel franchise characters for 'Multiple Man'

James Franco is moving from cult movie tribute "The Disaster Artist" to superhero franchise lead with "Multiple Man."

A mutant who can clone himself is being lined up for a solo superhero film, part of the X-Men universe, with James Franco starring as Multiple Man.

Franco is currently involved with promoting "The Disaster Artist," a well-received dramatization of the making of cult film "The Room" and with this announcement steps into mainstream superhero action.

X-Men spin-off "Multiple Man" picks up on a character introduced in "X-Men: The Last Stand," but it's not yet clear whether it will be as a hero or a villain, as was the case with the 2006 X-Men movie.

At the time of "X-Men: The Last Stand," he was played by Eric Dane, better known as Dr. Mark Sloan on "Grey's Anatomy," and it's Allan Heinberg, a writer and producer on the long-running medical drama, who has been brought on to script "Multiple Man."

Heinberg has writing credits on a number of TV series, including "Party of Five," "Sex and the City," and "The Catch," and also has a rich history with comic book characters -- he wrote 2017's "Wonder Woman" movie, as well as several comic books including a "Young Avengers" series for Marvel.

Franco was nominated for Oscar and Golden Globe awards for his performance as a climber whose hand becomes stuck under a boulder in "127 Hours." He received a Globe for another biographical film, "James Dean," and played twin lead roles in 2017 historical crime drama series "The Deuce."

He has previously appeared in Marvel Comics film adaptations as Harry Osborn throughout Sam Raimi's three "Spider-Man" movies.