Since his last feature film's release in 2012, fans have been clamoring for more of Judge Dredd on the big screen -- or, to be honest, even the small screen. Now, a new interview from Screen Geek with Judge Dredd co-creator John Wagner reveals that fans almost got something completely different instead of the Karl Urban-led "Dredd" film.

During "2000 AD's" celebration for publishing their 2000th issue, SG caught up with Wagner and kicked off a conversation by talking about the state of the franchise. When asked about the possibility of getting a sequel film, Wagner seemed optimistic. "Well, there will be a sequel, I just don’t know when or who’ll do it but it’ll happen." He added that the property would also "work very well" on television. "[I]t just depends on how it’s done," said Wagner. "It could work very as a film."

Wagner then pointed out that "everyone wants to see Judge Death" head up a film -- and apparently that idea was floated about at one point. "That was actually the first script that ['Dredd' screenwriter] Alex Garland did was a Judge Death script but Fox, who they were dealing with at the time, turned it down. They wanted more nuts and bolts before they went into the [metaphysical]."

Judge Death was created by Wagner and Brian Bolland and debuted in a 1980 "2000 AD" storyarc spanning issues #149-151 of the anthology series. He resides in an alternate dimension where living has been declared a crime. You can check out video of the interview with Wagner below.

Over the past few years, fans have launched campaigns to get movie studios and TV networks to notice the franchise, and "Dredd" star Karl Urban has previously stated that “conversations are happening” about possibly bringing the character back in some form. The “Bring Back Dredd” petition is still going strong, with over 152,000 signatures.