Can the new Judge Dredd excise all memories of Sly Stallone and Rob Schneider?

It's been 15 years since the Sly Stallone version of Judge Dredd thudded down on the hopes of 2000AD fans. Just about long enough for some pretty horrific memories to have faded into insignificance.

Non-canonical elements in the film included Dredd repeatedly showing his face (he never does in the comics) and embarking on a love affair with fellow Judge Hershey (contrary to the laws of Mega City One). But perhaps the most wretched addition was comedy sidekick Rob Schneider, as though Dredd were a family-friendly figure for Boxing Day viewing over turkey sandwiches: Indiana Jones wielding a Lawgiver.

According to reports from the Toronto international film festival, DNA Films' new big-screen adaptation, which seems to be titled Dredd, is already picking up significant financial support, despite the fact that no filming has yet taken place. We can only assume that buyers have read the script by 28 Days Later's Alex Garland, checked out the talent on display (Karl Urban as Dredd, Juno's Olivia Thirlby as telepathic rookie recruit Judge Cassandra Anderson) and decided that this is a project worth backing.

On paper, they might just be right. The new version already looks like a vast improvement on 1995's cliche-ridden effort. John Wagner, the strip's creator, and 2000AD artist Jock are both on board as consultants, and Garland himself has an instinctive understanding of genre storylines. I also like what Urban had to say about the movie when talking to MTV earlier this year: he described the film as "a very gritty, hardcore, faithful adaptation of the comic", which was "in no way related to any previous film versions".

DNA is the company behind 28 Days Later, Sunshine, The Last King of Scotland and forthcoming Oscar bait Never Let Me Go. At its heart, this is a very British operation with little connection to Hollywood, and one which we can reasonably expect to see holding true to 2000AD's core values. Dredd is a traditionally amoral character who lives in a post-apocalyptic epoch in which the rule of law has broken down so utterly that criminals must be tried, convicted and sentenced on the spot in order to prevent total anarchy. He's basically a souped-up Dirty Harry. Indeed, Wagner drew upon Harry – a classic antihero with whom we are never intended to completely identify – for inspiration. Couching Dredd in terms of a traditional Hollywoodised "good" and "bad" protagonist is anathema to 2000AD readers: he is supposed to be a character who commands our respect, not one who attracts our devotion.

Here's a synopsis of the screenplay from IM Global, one of the producing partners for the project. Again, this seems like we're on pretty faithful territory: "Dredd takes us to the wild streets of Mega City One, the lone oasis of quasi-civilization on Cursed Earth. Judge Dredd (Karl Urban) is the most feared of elite Street Judges, with the power to enforce the law, sentence offenders and execute them on the spot – if necessary. The endlessly inventive mind of writer Alex Garland and the frenetic vision of director Peter Travis bring Dredd to life as a futuristic neo-noir action film that returns the celebrated character to the dark, visceral incarnation from John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra's revered comic strip."

All well and good then, though I must confess that I know very little about Travis. His only feature film so far, Vantage Point, was a brave attempt to introduce some unorthodox aesthetics into the modern thriller form, but he seems like a risky choice to relaunch such a seminal character. Hasn't anybody out there spotted, in the wake of The Dark Knight's success, that Dredd has the same potential to dip into the murkiest inkpots of the comic-book world and deliver something truly visceral, dark and thrilling? Never mind Superman, in an ideal world Christopher Nolan would be taking to the streets of Mega City One as soon as he's done with Gotham. That really would blast any lingering memories of Stallone's version into the most far-flung corners of the Cursed Earth.