The television landscape is about to explode with new Marvel shows. Excluding the six Netflix series, there's Cloak and Dagger, New Warriors, Runaways, and Inhumans all hitting their respective networks and streaming services not too far apart from each other. It's tough enough to stand out from the dozens of other programs vying for your attention but these superhero shows won't have it any easier. Inhumans, however, has one distinct advantage over its competition and it's all thanks to IMAX. The season was partly filmed on IMAX cameras, which allowed for a wider scope than you'd see on most TV shows.
The premiere of Inhumans will be unlike any other show in recent memory. The first two episodes of the series were filmed on IMAX cameras and will premiere in IMAX theaters ahead of its debut this fall on ABC. This has allowed for Inhumans to feel more epic than most of the standard programming out there, which was wholly felt by the production. Inhumans showrunner Scott Buck told Entertainment Weekly that at least the first two episode feel more like a movie. In Buck's words...
Yes, I would say the first two episodes do, because it gave us a lot more freedom and pushed and encouraged us to think a little bit bigger than we would if it was just a normal network show. We just wanted to think bigger in terms of scope, and what we were seeing, and how we bring these characters to the audience. Hopefully just to get people really excited. I think it's something that absolutely stands on its own, but hopefully it'll intrigue people enough to make them want to watch the rest of the show.
You can't say Inhumans isn't hitting the ground running. The story of the Royal Family and Inhuman society is definitely more theatrical subject matter than you'd expect from a TV show, so this deal with IMAX really makes sense for the property. While the original idea to make an Inhumans movie was frequently delayed and eventually scrapped, this new iteration seems like the best of both worlds.
These two first episodes could be awesome in every way because of IMAX, but that makes you wonder how the following episodes are going to pan out. The first released photo of the cast in costume didn't do much to inspire confidence in some people. Scott Buck hasn't got much faith going either after his work as showrunner on Iron Fist, a similarly "out there" concept that most seem to agree was not very good. This IMAX deal could go a long way in smoothing people over.
Inhumans will first premiere in IMAX theaters for a limited two-week run beginning on September 1, 2017, and will then debut on ABC on September 26 with eight episodes.
