A question you probably don’t hear many people asking in Hollywood is, “Say, could we get less comic book programming on TV?” The hero-filled sub-genre has been positively booming across broadcast networks and streaming services, and it doesn’t look like it’ll be slowing soon. Case in point: there is now another Marvel TV series in development at ABC, and rather than another spy-based drama, it’ll be the network’s second attempt to craft a comedy from the comic giant’s library.
Unfortunately, details about the newly revealed project are scarcer than Phil Coulson’s real hands. ABC Entertainment Group President Paul Lee dropped the knowledge on IGN at this year’s TV Critics Association Press Tour party, saying that ABC Studios is definitely interested in putting Marvel comedies together to complement the dramas, which is self-evident by the fact that the network has put two of them in development over the past few months. What’s more interesting is that while ABC is the one putting the project in motion, it isn’t necessarily the project’s future home.
Lee says that he and others would love to see the new comedy showing up on ABC, but ABC Studios is also one of the companies behind Netflix’s Marvel series like Daredevil and Jessica Jones. So the streaming service is another possible, if not likely, avenue for the untitled project if it gets to the pilot stage and beyond. Netflix obviously opens up more doors content-wise, and it would be interesting to see how adult the comedy would get there, as opposed to on ABC. Of course, we’ll have to actually see a Marvel comedy on ABC to make that comparison.
Currently, ABC is putting together Damage Control, based in part on the comic book team of the same name. Developed by Daily Show and Colbert Report vet Ben Karlin, Damage Control will center on the people that show up after the heroes have defeated the villains, to take care of duties such as returning lost weapons to their owners and replacing objects that may have been destroyed during a huge fight. It’s an interesting and potentially amusing concept that could be great with solid writing behind it, and we’re hoping the new follow-up has a logline as distinct.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is currently Marvel’s flagship program on linear TV, with the midseason replacement Agent Carter as the second-in-command. And Paul Lee just announced recently that ABC put in a pilot order for the S.H.I.E.L.D. spinoff Marvel’s Most Wanted, centering on Bobbi Morse and Lance Hunter. Is there room on the network for two more Marvel shows of a lighter fare? Of course.
DC has also gotten into the comedy game, with the office space comedy Powerless getting a pilot order recently. Here’s hoping all of these comedies come to fruition to bring more comic-based laughs to the small screen.
