43 New And Upcoming Comic-Book TV Shows: Which Will Triumph?
14. Damage Control
Pitch: "Specializing in dealing with the aftermath of the unique fallout from superhero conflicts, theyre the ones who are in charge of returning lost ray guns to their rightful owners, help to reschedule a wedding venue after it has been vaporized in a superhero battle, or even track down a missing prize African parrot thats been turned to stone or goo." Latest News: Marvel is developing this Dwayne McDuffie creation as a single-camera half-hour comedy for ABC, announced this month. The point person is former Daily Show and Colbert Report executive producer Ben Karlin. Odds Of Success: Above average. McDuffie left a small but delightful legacy of comedic material for this series, and it's been fondly remembered if not one of Marvel's biggest hits.
13. Marvel's Defenders
Pitch: Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Iron Fist and Luke Cage team up to go to a place and probably fight someone, maybe? Marvel hasn't offered much information except for the fact that their individual Netflix series are supposed to culminate in this show. Latest News: This series is due on Netflix from Marvel after Jessica Jones, Iron Fist and Luke Cage, probably 2017. Odds Of Success: Still iffier than you may think. The general audience accepted the idea of combining different heroes' stories into one megaseries with The Avengers, but that doesn't even mean they'll do it again for Justice League movies, let alone that they'll do it for this collection of "street-level" heroes in another medium. (Let's face it: even the Avengers aren't as popular in late 2015 as they were in 2012.) Daredevil did well on every level, but if even one of the lead-up series bombs, this combined series could be in trouble. Early buzz on the other three shows is good, for what that's worth.
12. Marvel's Iron Fist
Pitch: Details about Marvel's non-Jessica-Jones Netflix series are sketchy beyond their titles. The comics see Danny Rand orphaned in a family trip to the magical land of K'un L'un. He learns the ways of the martial arts, especially the mystical, chi-focusing force known as the Iron Fist, and seeks revenge on his parents' killer. Latest News: This series is due on Netflix from Marvel after Jessica Jones and Luke Cage, and that's about all we know. Odds Of Success: Fairly strong. Iron Fist was born of a genre popular in the 1970s that has all but vanished from modern world cinema: kung fu. Martial arts remain popular, but the story will need some retooling for modern audiences. The "Marvel factor" is a big boost, however: the success of Daredevil and Marvel's other properties may lift this one.
11. Krypton
Pitch: Years before Superman was born, the House of El was shamed and ostracized. Superman's grandfather will bring hope and equality to the planet. Latest News: This series has an order from SyFy as of last December. Ian Goldberg and David S. Goyer are executive-producing it at DC Entertainment. Odds Of Success: Above average. Making it about Superman's grandfather at least avoids the obvious question: "Will the series finale involve everyone on this show exploding?" Goyer's Man Of Steel was more successful than some want to admit and the last Superman TV show, Smallville, sure did all right. For that matter, Gotham has been successful with a prepubescent Bruce Wayne, so maybe going back before Clark Kent was even conceived is just the natural next step.
T Campbell has written quite a few online comics series and selected work for Marvel, Archie and Tokyopop. His longest-running works are Fans, Penny and Aggie-- and his current project with co-writer Phil Kahn, Guilded Age.
