Created by Steve Levinson and directed by Peter Berg, "Ballers" enjoyed a successful pilot that helped to gain it a first season on HBO, starting from the end of June. Extremely close to being finished, HBO had just one demand for this series - that Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson was the lead, as Levinson and Berg had wanted anyway. As you'd expect, the early screenshots make "The Rock" look as suave as ever... The Selling Point: Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson of course - oh and it follows the lives of current and former football players and their handlers. The Concerns: Is it all just "The Rock" and no substance? He is a drawing point, certainly, but some of the films he has done have been dreadful. The show's premise still appears a little flimsy too.
27. Luke Cage (2016)
It started with "Daredevil" earlier this month, "AKA Jessica Jones" will be next, "Iron Fist" will come later, followed by "The Defenders" - but a Marvel miniseries everyone is talking about is "Luke Cage". Part of Netflix's agreement with Marvel to do five miniseries on TV, Mike Colter will play Cage - a superhero who has been imprisoned for a crime he didn't commit and who gains superpowers of unbelievable strength and extensive durability. The Selling Point: Its another superhero offering from Marvel - therefore it doesn't necessarily have to have stellar acting, just action galore (and it must stick, at least partially, to the comic's roots). The Concerns: As the third of the Mavel-Netflix collaborations, will it get given the same attention-to-detail as Daredevil and AKA Jessica Jones?
NUFC editor for WhatCulture.com/NUFC. History graduate (University of Edinburgh) and NCTJ-trained journalist. I love sports, hopelessly following Newcastle United and Newcastle Falcons. My pastimes include watching and attending sports matches religiously, reading spy books and sampling ales.
