Ridley (Metroid)
Ridley's status within the ranks of the Space Pirates is unclear, with some sources stating that he is the leader of the entire Space Pirate race, whereas others portray him as simply the Pirates' military commander or even a mere enforcer within the Pirate military ranks, subservient to Mother Brain or Space Pirate High Command. Regardless, he is consistently depicted as a ruthless and cunning tactician who never passes up an opportunity to bring his considerable ferocity to bear on the battlefield, opting to overwhelm his opponents with an unwavering onslaught of attacks from his mouth, claws, and tail. He is also incredibly cruel, actively taking pleasure in the killing and torment of others; at one point in the official manga he taunts Samus by claiming he may have devoured her mother's corpse after killing her, and a Space Pirate log entry in "Metroid Prime" notes that being the mainstay of the Pirate security force is "a job he will certainly relish."
Metroid
In December 2012, Peer Schneider of IGN published an article explaining the fate and some production details of the proposed John Woo-directed "Metroid" movie with an exclusive interview with one of the former producers of the "Metroid" movie, Brad Foxhoven. The movie with John Woo as director was first pitched in 2004 and initially had Nintendo's full support. Foxhoven stated in the IGN interview, "Nintendo was quite supportive of the idea, as they were all fans of John's previous films" and that production studio Tiger Hill was "in it for the long haul" and had started a three-year development period. The "Metroid" movie was originally set for a 2006 release but slipped because Tiger Hill was spending most of the development time attempting to cope with Nintendo's restrictions on the "Metroid" franchise. The reason for Nintendo's restrictions was the past critical and commercial failure of the "Super Mario Bros." movie which, according to IGN, "had left an indelible impression on Nintendo and how it would approach future licensing deals with Hollywood." One writer that was brought in to write a script for the "Metroid" movie, among "several writers", was David Greenwalt of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", "Angel" and "Grimm" fame, the furthest that the production process reached was "a treatment for a live action film that John would possibly direct."