Comic book shows are all the rage on the small screen nowadays, ranging from superhero ventures like those on ABC and The CW to adaptations like The Walking Dead on AMC. A new series based on Valiant's Quantum and Woody comic series is in the works, and the show may have just landed its first star. Joel McHale of Community and The Great Indoors is reportedly in talks to play one of the two lead characters.
Joel McHale would play Woody Henderson in Quantum and Woody. Woody is a slacker whose tendency to play the field with the ladies and crack wise about pretty much anything puts him at odds with his much more serious adoptive brother, Quantum. The two are brought together by their father's death. In the course of their investigation into what happened in their father's final days, they end up with unpredictable superpowers courtesy of energy control bands. Unfortunately for the mismatched brothers, they need to get together and "klang" these energy bands together every 24 hours, or they'll be killed by the effects.
There is no word just yet of who will play Quantum, although The Wrap reports that the casting is expected to be announced in the not-too-distant future, as a number of big names are currently in the running. It's no surprise that the show was already able to land a veteran TV actor like Joel McHale as one of the leads, given the team behind the scenes.
Anthony and Joe Russo of the Marvel Cinematic Universe are putting Quantum and Woody together for the small screen. If anybody nowadays has a magic touch when it comes to bringing comic characters to life on screen, Anthony and Joe Russo definitely qualify after directing the last two Captain America movies and the next two Avengers movies. Quantum and Woody will mark a reunion for McHale and the Russo brothers, who worked together on Community.
The pilot for Quantum and Woody also hails from a team of proven comic adaptation talent. Andrew Barrer and Gabriel Ferrari, who wrote Ant-Man and the upcoming Ant-Man and The Wasp, wrote the script for the pilot, outlined the series, and are likely to work as co-showrunners. If they can bring what worked for Ant-Man to the small screen for Quantum and Woody, the new show could be the next big thing in the comic book TV market.
Despite Joel McHale's casting, the project is still in the relatively early stages of development. No network is yet attached to Quantum and Woody, so we can only wait and see if production moves forward at a faster pace now that a star is attached. For Joel McHale's sake, I hope Quantum and Woody finds more of an audience than The Great Indoors did, as his big return to broadcast network comedy didn't last for very long. Only time will tell. Our fall TV schedule can give you all the dates you need to plan your TV viewing in the coming months, so be sure to take a look.
