LogFAQs > #975549705

It has three things working against it:

This is your great-grandfather's idea of a sci-fi hero
With superheroes being pulled out of obscurity, I don't think it would be difficult to modernize an old hero that people might have heard of before.

Ming the Merciless is a dated, yet indespensible part of the story
I would suggest a diverse group of heroes versus a Vladir Putin stand-in who looks like Anton LeVay. That's really where the character has been since the 1950s. And since Emperor Ming has a sycophant King Kala working for him, that guy could easily be turned into Donald Trump.

If producers still think the name Ming the Merciless is too racist to ever work in the modern era, they could skip straight to the Queen of Mars storyline and make Queen Fria the villain instead.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/6/0/1/AAdlC_AAExFB.jpg

George Lucas already strip-minded the story's content for Star Wars
Flash Gordon is similar to Star Wars in its setting, but it's actually more like Indiana Jones in its tone. There's also a Roman Gladiator motif going on with the villains that is nowhere to be found in Star Wars. I'm picturing a movie with fist fights, cliffhangers, an erupting volcano, and a battle or two with a giant monster. I think they could even have a swordfight and make it play out more like something out of a Kung Fu movie than a lightsaber dual.

It wouldn't be anything at all for a trailer to show us that, This is NOT Star Wars.