This week we all got very excited when it was announced that Joss Whedon would be working on a television pilot for a S.H.I.E.L.D. show. He (obviously) did a great job on The Avengers and his past experience in successful TV shows means he has a great idea what works and what would not. He understands the limitations of technology and budgets.
In a perfect world, we could get (great) TV shows based on all our favorite comic book characters. Realistically, that's not possible. Some characters just wouldn't translate as well as others in the live-action format. Then, of course, there would be the budget that could prevent the characters actually using their superpowers or abilities.
The question this week is, what comic book series or characters would make a great TV show? Let's keep it realistic. We're not going to see an X-Men or Justice League TV show using the characters to their full potentials. There have been some decent attempts in the past. Technology has improved.
Share your thoughts below. Maybe some eager and conniving TV exec will read your response and make it happen. You won't get the credit for it, of course but the world would get an awesome show out of it.
Tony Guerrero is the Editor-in-Chief of Comic Vine. You can follow him on Twitter@GManFromHeck. He hopes to someday see a TV show based on Doctor Guerrero.
Smallville had a budget of 2-4 million per episode.A superhero show has to be character-driven because it's more cheaper.
If a superhero hero show were gonna happen, the people will have to have "invisible supers" like superhearing.An X-Factor is doable, many of the character's superpowers are invisible and people like detective shows.
Detective comics with Batman where there would be different cases each ep but a bigger plot throughout the season.
Also an X-Factor Investigations would be totally awesome and i can really see it as a tv-show. There could be guest appearances of other X-men or heroes from the marvel universe too.
Red Hood and the Outlaws or Ultimate Spider-man (Miles Morales, not the Disney cartoon...). I love Redhood so much, but he usually couldn't show up in cartoons, however there is a niche for adult cartoons and he'd fit nicely in that spot. Miles Morales having a TV show would be very interesting. just cause.
Or maybe a show about Deadpool. But that may be a bit much to ask for.
Deathstroke could work. A few cameos from the Titans and other powered characters shouldn't hurt the budget that much.
A show that focuses on Robin and his perspective of fighting crime with Bats could be fun, preferably with Tim so Dick can make a couple of appearances as Nightwing to give him advice about Bruce and such.
I can also see Amadeus Cho as an interesting, though slightly annoying lead character. People seem to eat up the "super smart kid" types these days.
I think The Flash. we've seen superspeed work on TV before, there's a good range of antagonists and you could introduce Wally and Bart down the track when things get stale.
Person of Interest is basically Batman without a costume. This guy John is like Batman. His friend from Lost is like Alfred. The cop who was after him and is now his friend, she is like Gordon. The crooked cop is like Bullock. The show is even co-made by Christopher Nolan's brother. So I think a dark, semi realistic, Batman show would work well on TV. Just limit the camp to none.
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Booster Gold and Blue Beetle would be a fun show, imagine it being like Dumb and Dumber or Chandler and Joey on friends but as superheroes. but I know Ted wont be used in anything any time soon. So I am happy with a Booster Gold tv show. a show about a time traveler who goes back in time for personal gain and is a goof but learns to be a better person. Plus, is SyFy still making this? I want to see them make it. His costars would include Rip Hunter, Skeets, Booster's sister, a young girl he saved from an alternate future who turns out to be his mother since he is from the future and she is now in the present. Also occasional guest spots by Blue Beetle. And alternate versions of other heroes like Sinestro and Batman. Booster lives outside of time and travels around the multiverse, past present and future to fix things and keeps things in check.
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And I REALLY want to see a ClanDestine tv show or movie. A family of mystical beings who have lived forever, some are over 200 years old. Who keep to themselves and private and hidden but get bored easily, and being costumed adventurers is just the latest distraction. Sounds like a fun show. The SFX budget wouldn't need to be more than Smallville or Angel really.
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And I have always wanted a LIVE ACTION Buffy/Angel/Smallville/Heroes styled X-Men tv show. Starting out with Xavier who puts together a school for Gifted Students (Mutants not a term yet) with no intention of being superheroes or combat and they get sucked into heroics. Season One starts with the original 5 and season two Xavier expands and the cast grows and changes with the addition of Colossus, Nightcrawler, Storm, Wolverine and others. By this time Xavier starts to see that the school must be a safe place for mutants and his X-Men must protect them... sorry, got into rambling off my idea. But I have a lot of stuff for it. But one idea for the show was like with Smallville, not costumes. Wolverine wears a yellow tank top with black slash marks and jeans. Cyclops wears an official Xavier Institute T-Shirt. Thunderbird wears a blue shirt with a red bird symbol, etc. And the Sentinels would be like Cybermen, man sized robots (men in robot costumes). Sort of what Alphas is doing now on their show. The show wouldn't need costumes because the idea is how humans are evolving, not superheroes. I talk in more detail about this idea here:
Actually, I do think that X-Men would make the most awesome comic book TV-show. It would just have to be easy on the action and focus on characters developement and drama instead. I would love to see a character-oriented live-action X-Men series with a strong focus on the social allegories of the mutant struggle & the problems and conflicts of individual characters. The kind of show that would be less about flashy action sequences and more about human drama.
I think Lost did a great job of combining mystery, fantasy, and science fiction with drama. It supernatural/scifi elements to it, but at its core it was an ensemble drama that focused on the inner conflicts and relationships of the characters. I don't see why X-Men couldn't work as a TV-series with a similar approach. I think it would be perfectly doable if they just kept the tone a little more realistic than in the comics - i.e. no adventures in space, no visits to alternate demon dimensions, less giant robots. Of course, some characters would be impossible to pull off from week to week with a TV-show budget (bye, Beast!), but otherwise I don't tthink that the depiction of mutant powers would be a huge problem.
I don't think that any movie adaptation of X-Men can ever be entirely satisfying because you can only do so much with such a large ensemble of characters within the time limits of a single movie, or even a trilogy. No character (except maybe Wolverine) is ever going to get enough attention in the movie adaptations. A TV-series, however, could include multiple interesting character arcs for a whole bunch of characters. That's why I think live-action X-Men would work so much better in TV than it does on the big screen.
If they made a Flash cartoon that took place in the same universe as Batman/Superman the animated series, and Justice league/JL unlimited and had the same art it could of been great.
/Sigh. Oh to remember the days before the new 52 where Wally West was the Flash.
Sadly none if it is about super hero or guy with power. It would ruin or puke on the original creation. And you don't have gigallions of dollars then it will be a boring "super-hero" tv show. Look at smallville if you want an exemple of how horrible a comic tv show can be. They literrally destroyed all the superman mythos to create a teenage show. I can already tell you that the new serie "arrow" will have 30 sec of bow action each episode maximum and that the other time will be useless relationship thing.
I always thought Captain Marvel would be a perfect character and show to introduce kids to a wider range of heroes.
I mean he is a kid, who at the shout of a magic word turns into a superhero. The villains i.e. Black Adam, Doctor Sivana are stereotypically villanous.
And it wouldn't have to just be for the kids, I think we can all remember how suprised we were to liking Batman The Brave and The Bold, but we still did!
But I don't want her old life or old look. I want THIS one below. She's a lot tougher, less cheerful , better costume and most of all her armor is KILLING her! Literally! I wonder how she would deal with that if she was in a TV series?
PS. I also like Super-boy. His view on life is rather... fascinating and he learns pretty quick. I HATED his old costume which was an S on a Black shirt and jeans. It would be a great addition if they added him on this show. But I also want his own show.
I remember rumours going around ages ago about a live-action Moon Knight TV series. With the right writing (which would be damn hard, I'm not going to deny it), it would be awesome.
Nightwing in Bludhaven...I know, people will say it won't work but it can. Just do it like it takes palce after he leaves Batman and tries to create a new name for himself outside of Gotham. Its doable.
@wowylied: I couldn't agree more about Smallville. It was just a bad show that used the relationships to tell the story but it was never really character driven. Its for this reason that they show suffered. It was far far far from being good.
Show Bruce Wayne in his teenage years training to become Batman eventually. He'll not only have time in Gotham, but also overseas while training. Arkham Asylum and its range of characters could be included (Jeremiah Arkham). Alfred would be his butler and guide (as he already is) with Leslie Thompkins, and introduce other characters that will become supporting characters. Selina Kyle, troubled teen thief that becomes a love interest that owns a dozen cats; Harleen Quinzel, new intern at Arkham and another possible love interest that helps sometimes with her connections in the Asylum and her knowledge in psychology; aspiring journalist Vicki Vale as another potential love interest; police officer Jim Gordon and a possible cameo of his very young and intelligent daughter Barbara; Haley's Circus could be mentioned or even featured in an episode where Bruce unknowingly meets the parents of Dick Grayson; and dozens other characters can can be utilised (pre-Two Face district attorney Harvey Dent maybe?).
Bruce Wayne could have a villain of the week like the first few seasons of Smallville, and while most could be original for the show, some could lead to a post-Batman future: Jonathan Crane could be a doctor at Arkham or teacher at Gotham University (that Bruce attends) and be creating the beginning of what will eventually be his Scarecrow fear gas; Pamela Isley could be a professor in plant biology at Bruce's University and imply her future as a ecological terrorist when she creates her first plant hybrids that Bruce has to fight (or even both Pamela Isley and her mentor Jason Woodrue); Victor Fries might help Bruce with an ice related situation one episode, and in that same episode meet his future wife, Nora before she gets sick; a mysterious man who dons a red cape and hood could feature at some point, even as something to do with supporting character Harleen Quinzel.
There is an endless supply of potential, especially with Batman's colourful and iconic rouges gallery that everyone is already familiar with, and the budget of superpowers would be practically nil with Bruce Wayne and many of his characters not having any superpowers, so the budget could go to other needs on this drama based series.
(Sorry, but the more I thought about it, the more the ideas kept flowing. You can't tell me they couldn't make ten seasons of awesomeness out of this in a tv show that would far outdo Smallville. The only downside is the people in charge would pick another rebooted Batman movie franchise over a tv show like this, which is why they haven't already done it and chose Smallville and Arrow instead.)
I really liked X-men evolution, but where is my phantom stranger. Also Batman the brave and the Bold was a good idea batman teaming up with lesser known heroes. And Iron fist plus red hood and the outlaws, plus ultimate spidey with miles morales. Maybe an american vampire on HBO.
hmm...i think with a good writer/director that Grifter might make a good show.
also a Punisher Tv show could be good if it could remain consistent and interesting. The mvoei failed to do that for me but im sure the show has the oppurtunity to excust his character and story better.
Also a Specter Show could work, make it a detective crime story then when he catches the bad guys he exacts Vengeance on them. every story would be different, and once in while in the season he'd fight something of the occult that could actually challenge him.
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