Naughty or nice?Santa Claus might be cast as an action hero in a rumored future project from the makers of "300."

According to Borys Kit of The Hollywood Reporter [1], the production company behind "300" has acquired film rights for "The Last Christmas," a 2006 Image Comics graphic novel in which Santa retires to a quiet life.

"When he emerges from seclusion," Kit writes, "he has to find a way to save the world, and Christmas, from being overrun by demons, zombies and other bad guys."

The cover of the original graphic novel [2] depicts Santa toting what looks like a candy-cane-striped shotgun, striking a valiant pose on a rooftop.

This strikes me as one weird concept. It begs the question: What fun is it laugh and sing a slaying song tonight?

(Jorge Sosa is a staff writer for the Hutchinson Leader. He can be reached at sosa@hutchinsonleader.com [4])