Another New Marvel/ABC TV Series!

Image Courtesy www.screenrant.com

When it rains, it pours Marvel TV news!  Last week we got the report that Marvel and ABC were working on a spinoff series from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. that would build on some of the themes from the second half of this season.  Then there was the release of Daredevil on Netflix.  Now, there’s another report about a Marvel TV project!  When will the news stop coming?

According to this article, Marvel is working on a new TV series for ABC, which would have John Ridley (12 Years a Slave) as one of the showrunners or producers.  The Entertainment Weekly article breaking the story offers some clues as to what this TV series could be:  “the deal involves reinventing an existing Marvel superhero character or property for ABC.”  Comicbook.com suggests that this sounds like a different project from the previously announced Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. spinoff.  Awesome!  So what could it be?  I have a few thoughts, but I’d love to hear your thoughts as well.

The Inhumans – I already talked about this in my previous article about the AoS spinoff.  Essentially this would be a series focusing on the identification, training, and culture of the Inhumans.  However, I don’t know if this is the series that John Ridley will be working on; this would be more of a spinoff from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

The Runaways – A team consisting of the children of super villains, The Runaways have been in the news quite a bit as a property which Marvel is looking to bring to the MCU.  The Runaways find out that their parents are super villains, run away from home, and work to stop their parents’ evil plan.  I think this would be an interesting team to bring to the big screen, not in the least because one member’s parents are time travelers and she has a pet dinosaur!

Wasp, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. – Considering that Marvel has been expanding the history of the MCU on TV, a Wasp TV series would be a good way to build up the Ant-Man franchise.  A series starring Wasp would focus on Janet Van Dyn-Pym and her work going on missions for S.H.I.E.L.D. during the Cold War.  This could either be a series during the midseason break or one that runs alongside Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (and the spinoff).  It would feature at least a few cameos from Hank Pym, aka Ant Man, especially if the actor they case for young Hank in Ant-Man (assuming they cast one) has a contract friendly to TV appearances.

Black Captain America – If this series airs during the midseason break—either alongside Agent Carter or in place of it—it might be another exploration of Marvel’s history.  Given that Marvel has already hinted at one attempt to recreate the Super Soldier Serum (The Incredible Hulk) and another is on its way (Luke Cage), what if Marvel is planning to go back to the beginning—the first attempt to recreate the Super Soldier Serum?  The so-called “Black Captain America,” Isaiah Bradley, was the survivor of the first such attempt.  Like the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment during World War II, the U.S. Army/SSR conducted experiments on African-American soldiers in an effort to create more super soldiers.  When the experiments were discovered, all the survivors were killed as part of a cover-up—all except Isaiah Bradley.  Bradley went to conduct a mission against the Nazis, destroying a Nazi super soldier program.  Chronologically, he is the first black superhero, depicted as a legend in the African-American superhero community.  I think a series following his missions—either during World War II or shortly thereafter, crossing over with Agent Carter—would be fascinating, and a good way to give depth to the MCU.  It doesn’t hurt that John Ridley is best known for his work on 12 Years a Slave.

I can’t think of any other ideas for what this series could be, so what are your thoughts?  I’d love to hear your ideas for what this series might be.  One thing I am certain of is that I am really excited to see how much is happening with Marvel TV right now.

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Edit:
It occurred to me after I published this article that my thoughts on a couple other articles could be useful to this discussion.
This is my article on the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Spinoff from last week
This is my article on the Future of The Defenders on Netflix.  Some of these ideas could also work on network TV.