The Phantom is one of those properties that has been around for decades. At one time it was awesome and cool, but over the years it's kind of become lame. And yet, Hollywood keeps trying to make it hip. It's kind of like Zorro in that regard. Every once in awhile, it works and it's cool again for a year or two.
I'm not as confident that The Phantom's latest venture will do that for him. In the tradition of Alice and Riverworld, The Phantom is a four-hour event scheduled to premiere on June 20th at 7 PM ET. These have been largely hit or miss for Syfy, but I'm just not sure how you make the Phantom cool.
The guy lives in the jungle, wears a purple unitard and mask and rides around on a horse taking down bad guys. The newest version promises to modernize and reimagine the original premise, created by Lee Falk. This time, the Phantom is a law student raised by adoptive parents who has no idea of his legacy. The Singh crime syndicate hopes that my killing Kit Walker (the not-Phantom), they can end a legacy that dates back to the 1500s. And start an international war while they're at it.
Really, I think it almost always comes down to the costume with most of these comic properties. If they can find a way to make Ryan Carnes (Desperate Housewives) look cool as the Phantom, then maybe they can pull this off after all. We can also look forward to Isabella Rossellini as Lithia, described as the villainous head of an experimental mind control program.
How does it all tie together? Only Muse Entertainment and RHI knows. But we can all find out when The Phantom premieres on Syfy June 20th from 7-11 PM ET.
