2009 Green Hornet's Black Beauty looks ready to roll

As reported earlier this week, Comic-Con served as the backdrop for the unveiling of the film's Black Beauty -- the Hornet's signature ride -- and now we have a new set of photos from our resident camera Jedi, Drew Phillips. As with the original TV car, the silver screen variant appears to be based on a 1966 Imperial Crown 4-door hardtop (there's a distinct '65 flavor to those headlamp surrounds, however, so we might be wrong on that).

Frankly, we're a little concerned about whether funnyman Seth Rogen will be able to pull off the action-star thing when he takes the lead role in next year's big-screen adaptation of The Green Hornet . Then again, we remember thinking Michael Keaton would utterly tank as Batman in 1989, but that experiment in casting against type wound up working extremely well, so we'll sit back and hope for the best. As with Tim Burton's Batman, a car will feature prominently in The Green Hornet, and in this regard, things are looking very good indeed.

In addition to the grille- and bumper-mounted weapons and gadgets of the original, Rogen's Green Hornet will also have a pair of hood-mounted gatling guns at his disposal. Neat detail alert: check out the hornet center caps on the Beauty's Torq-Thrust-style wheels. Regardless of how the movie winds up being, one thing's indisputable: The Black Beauty is way badass. That Rogen and co. went with another Imperial in the 21st-century update is a testament to just how great-looking those old cars were... and still are.