Back in August, DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. TV sold a comedy pitch to NBC called Powerless. Now, Marvel is making its own move into comedy with a comic that was originally described as “a sitcom in the Marvel Universe.”
According to Deadline, Marvel’s Damage Control has landed a put-pilot commitment from ABC as a single-camera comedy series based on the concept and characters created by Dwayne McDuffie and artist Ernie Colón. As originally conceived, the characters worked at a firm called Damage Control that was tasked with quickly cleaning up and rebuilding New York City after numerous superhero battles. Only four Damage Control miniseries were ever published, but the company and a few of the characters have occasionally resurfaced in Marvel’s comic book universe.
Ben Karlin, a former executive producer of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, developed Damage Control for television. The proposed TV series will maintain the core premise of the comic by following “the overworked, underpaid, clean up crew of the Marvel Universe. Specializing in dealing with the aftermath of the unique fallout from superhero conflicts, they’re 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 that’s been turned to stone or goo.”
It’s unclear if Damage Control will be a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but it will be produced by Marvel Studios and executive produced by Jeph Loeb, Marvel’s Head of Television. ABC already has two Marvel Studios series on the network: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Agent Carter, with a potential third series, Marvel’s Most Wanted in development as a starring vehicle for Adrianne Palicki & Nick Blood.
Should Marvel keep Damage Control in the MCU? And who would you cast in the series? Let us know in the comment section below!
