Superheroes are huge, and yet there have only ever been a handful of successful TV shows about them. Well, the time has come for there to be more! The CW is doing well with Arrow (despite not calling it or the hero himself by his actual name of Green Arrow) and ABC is adding Marvel’s “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” this fall. Superhero flicks have also been taking the box office by storm for over a decade, proving that superhero stories can be done in a non-comic book medium, so why the hell not add some more to the TV lineup? If more superhero stories were to come about on television, here are a few potential subjects.
No, not Peter Parker Spider-Man, but a show about the current Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man Miles Morales. Miles is a 13 year old half-Hispanic/half-Black kid who was also bitten by a super-spider giving him (mostly) the same powers as your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, Peter Parker. Spidey is one of the most beloved and well-known superheroes in history, so a television series seems like a natural fit for him. Given that Miles is a relatively new hero, and, at thirteen, really freaking young, you’d be able to tell some different stories than the kinds of things you see in other superhero tales. Maybe it’d be like Degrassi, but with superpowers! That could be… interesting, to say the least, though it might also turn out awful- like Degrassi, but with superpowers. Either way, so long as we get to see Miles Morales web-slinging around NYC to fight crime, things will never be too bad.
When DC relaunched with their New 52, Birds of Prey was one of the titular 52. Writer Duane Swierczynski mixed up the team composition and introduced new characters, giving it the fresh feeling DC had hoped for. A television show based on this New 52 group would be great, particularly if they also pulled from the Birds of Prey’s lengthy pasts. Portraying their powers wouldn’t be that hard, either, since Black Canary has a super scream and Katana’s katana is a “Soultaker.” Outside of those two elements, the group is just a highly skilled team of women ready to kick ass. TV needs more positive female roles, and this could be just what the doctor ordered. Plus, since the group is constantly teaming up with others, anyone could show up as a guest star serving as a testing ground for more shows. The WB tried a Birds of Prey show once before, but it seemed to fall on the awkwardly goofy side a bit too often, and audiences didn’t respond well. If this new Birds of Prey were approached with the same diligence as CW’s Arrow, the network would have another major hit on their hands.
Iron Fist- martial arts master, cocky millionaire. Luke Cage- super strong, super invulnerable, and super awesome. Together the two of them are a two-man, super-powered A-Team, righting wrongs and destroying evil when the price is right. A Heroes for Hire TV show could combine some of the best elements of the superhero genre with both detective shows and buddy cop films, making for a fast-paced, explosion-filled program centered around these two buds fighting crime.
A new show about Wonder Woman is long overdue. It’s not for lack of trying though; it’s from a lack of finding the right team of people to create it. There have been several (thankfully) failed pilots, and currently The CW is working on a pilot with WW set in high school. High school? Really? The CW has done well with “Arrow,” and “Smallville” ran for about ten thousand years, so it might work out. Don’t be surprised if they pull a classic CW move and refuse to actually call her Wonder Woman. Personally, I’d rather see a show based on the New 52 Wonder Woman with Zeus, Zola, Hades, and the whole Greek mythological gang.
Marvel’s Daredevil gets blinded by a radioactive material that falls from a truck- which is coincidentally the same accident and material that gave us the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. DD may be blind, but he’s far from helpless. His other senses are heightened to superhuman levels, meaning that he can essentially “see” more than anyone with perfect vision. It would be a nice change of pace to have someone with a physical impairment represented in an empowering way on TV. Daredevil possesses a very special set of mixed martial arts and parkour skills accompanied by his weapon of choice- a modified billy club- so it wouldn’t necessarily require a lot of special effects to show off his talents. All they need is a fantastic stunt coordinator and team for this superhero to look bad ass. The recent Daredevil story arcs have been focused on the more light-hearted, fun side of being a superhero, and that’d make for an excellent starting point to base the TV series on. Not everyone has to be Batman-levels of grim and moody.
