Protecting Marvel's TV franchises: prospects for TV?

[macattack]

I didn't know where to put this, but I felt like showcasing this interesting article and seeing what people thought about it.

http://comics.ign.com/articles/110/1102785p1.html

And then IGN has the top ten franchises they want to see on TV. A lot of fan favorites here from Runaways to She-Hulk to more surprising choices like Power Pack (this is an old article but it's still relevant): http://tv.ign.com/articles/102/1020371p1.html

Do you agree with IGN's list and the points the writers pointed out? What did they leave out, and what are they overblowing? I'd comment on the articles more if it weren't for the fact that I'm really, really sick.

[Kenny E. McCall]

Interesting article. But here are my choices:

Jennifer Walters: The Sensational She-Hulk - This is a good choice that they put on this list. The idea of the Hulk's superstrong cousin as a lawyer working superhuman cases while battling supervillains and a complicated love life would work both as an animated series for Disney XD and a live-action series for ABC Family, especially with Beverley Mitchell as Jennifer, and Robin Coleman as the greenskinned She-Hulk. I wouldn't mind bringing Cree Summer back as the voice of Jennifer/She-Hulk for the animated series though.

Spider-Woman - Works well as either an animated or live-action series for both ABC and Disney XD. I'm already doing a synopsis-style outline fanfic of this series in the Toonzone Story Board, so I have some skin in the game. For this series, I would keep the current origin of Jessica Drew with the HYDRA connection from the comics, but use the idea of Jessica as a reporter for a tabloid magazine (similar to the 1979-80 animated series, also on ABC.) by day, superheroine by night! For the animated series, Alyssa Milano (Charmed) would be perfect as the voice of Jessica, while in the live-action version, Cerina Vincent would do Ms. Drew justice. I would like to see Joan Van Ark play Jessica's mom in the pilots of both versions though.

The New Warriors - Another good choice on that IGN list, since I'm currently doing that fanfic here at Toonzone as well. I'm going with the originals - Night Thrasher, Speedball, Namorita, Marvel Boy, Firestar, Nova, and maybe Rage and Turbo for good measure. I'm seeing the first Disney Channel/Marvel Studios Original Movie of the teen team airing on that channel, with some of the characters making guest appearances on both Wizards of Waverly Place (in the case of Firestar and Speedball) and The Suite Life On Deck (in the case of Namorita) to promote the movie before those two shows end their runs.

Dazzler: Too bad Hannah Montana is in its last season, or we would be seeing an episode where Miley Stewart meets a young girl named Alison Blaire, a new student at her school whom Miley finds out is a mutant superheroine and fellow pop star called the Dazzler! That would have been a perfect episode of Hannah Montana to spin Ali off into her own Disney Channel/Marvel Studios Original Movie with Tiffany Thornton in the role. There's Sonny With A Chance, where Alison Blaire could meet her lookalike, Tawni Hart, in an episode since they would both be played by Thornton, setting up a confusion situation for Sonny and the So Random cast!

The Spectacular Spider-Girl - Demi Lovato stars in her first Disney XD/Marvel Studios Original Movie as May "Mayday" Parker, the daughter of Peter and Mary Jane Parker, who suddenly inherits the powers of her father, who was once the Amazing Spider-Man! Throw in her complicated high school and home life, along with Mayday battling many of Spider-Man's old foes and their teenage children, and you got the premise for a fun Disney Channel movie series!

Power Pack - Another good one on the IGN list for Marvel to explore for TV and animation. Four kids given superpowers after saving an alien from a marauding force of alien invaders? Throw in two caring parents caught up in the moment, and you got a superhero series that's part Fantastic Four, part Seventh Heaven. That's especially if you can get Brenda Hampton, Craig Kyle and Eric Rollman as executive producers of the Power Pack TV series.

More later.

[Knightmare]

I really like all your choices Kenny, althought I think Spider-Girl as a live-action movie might be awhile since Sony still has the rights, although I do think that Spider-Girl would make an excellent animated series. I never really thought about Ms. Lovato as Mayday, but I can see her as being the voice actress for the character.

I wouldn't mind seeing a Great Lakes Avengers/whatever they are calling themselves these days movie. I really think that Selena Gomez would make an excellent Squirrel Girl and in the right hands I think that they could make an excellent comedy or spoof of actual Superhero movies.

[Kenny E. McCall]

I really like all your choices Kenny, although I think Spider-Girl as a live-action movie might be awhile since Sony still has the rights, although I do think that Spider-Girl would make an excellent animated series. I never really thought about Ms. Lovato as Mayday, but I can see her as being the voice actress for the character.

I wouldn't mind seeing a Great Lakes Avengers/whatever they are calling themselves these days movie. I really think that Selena Gomez would make an excellent Squirrel Girl and in the right hands I think that they could make an excellent comedy or spoof of actual Superhero movies.

Thanks man. Let me help you out on the Great Lakes Avengers series though:

The Great Lakes Avengers - This is the series they should have done for Cartoon Network instead of the Super Hero Squad Show! What would happen if a bunch of Avengers rejects suddenly found themselves in a small town in Wisconsin and became the Great Lakes' newest superteam! Yep, Meet Mr. Immortal (Patrick Warburton), Doorman (Peter DeLuise), Flatman (Christopher MacDonald), Big Bertha (Nicole Sullivan), Dinah Soar (Jennifer Stone) and Squirrel Girl (Selena Gomez) - The Great Lakes Avengers! It's an animated series of hilarious proportions about a team of superpowered misfits who take the cases and fight the villains the regular Marvel superheroes don't even want to be bothered with! Anyway, for the live-action movie, Kevin Sorbo plays Mr. Immortal, Patrick Warburton plays Doorman, Peter DeLuise plays Flatman, Nikki Blonsky plays Big Bertha, Jennifer Stone plays and does the voice of Dinah Soar, and Selena Gomez plays Doreen Green, the truly outrageous Squirrel Girl! A perfect comedy about Superheroes for ABC Family and Disney Channel/Disney XD!

And, there's more...

Ms. Marvel: The Series - This would be the first series from Marvel Studios where Katee Sackhoff (Battlestar Galactica) would be playing Carol Danvers, an Air Force pilot who finds herself imbued with the powers of the legendary Kree hero Captain Mar-Vell, in both a syndicated live-action series co-produced by ABC Studios, and an animated series by Marvel Animation. Expect battles with such people as Mystique (played by Rebecca Romijn and Colleen Wheeler in both versions), Deathbird (Grace Park and April Winchell in both versions), Steeplejack (Michael Jai White in both versions), and others, while working for SHIELD, running her own magazine and dealing with a 16-year-old girl named Suzy Sherman (Danielle Padabaker) who wants to be just like her idol! Expect Alyssa Milano and Cerina Vincent to make appearances as friend Jessica Drew (Spider-Woman) in both versions as well.

Moon Knight - This is a rather unusual choice for a live-action series, but if Human Target gets cancelled by Fox, Mark Valley would be perfect for the role of Marc Spector, a mercenary and treasure hunter who suddenly finds himself before the Egyptian god Khonshu, who chooses him to become the Fist of Khonshu, Moon Knight! Done right, this could be the perfect small-budget television series for both ABC and SyFy, as Marc Spector fights crime in the streets of Boston, and superpowered and supernatural menaces all around the world alongside his girlfriend Marlene Alraune. From Marvel and ABC Studios of course.

Daughters of the Dragon - Just like Power Man and Iron Fist, only sexier. Consider these ladies Luke and Danny's female counterparts, as Gabrielle Union and Grace Park play former New York City police officer Misty Knight, and mistress of the martial arts Colleen Wing, as they become New York-based private investigators who help patrol Marvel's seediest underground. Expect crossovers with Power Man and Iron Fist and another group of lady detectives that were featured on that IGN list named Jessica Jones and Dakota North (played by Emanuelle Vaugier and Moon Bloodgood) in an all-new dramatic series for ABC Family's 10:00pm hour from Marvel Studios and ABC Family!

Kenny :cool:

[Silverstar]

Regarding a Power Pack series, there actually was a pilot for a live action PP show made for NBC back in 1991, though it wasn't picked up. There were a few notable changes from the comic, of course, one of the main differences being that in the TV pilot, the Power kids' parents were aware of their powers and their superhero lives. If a Power Pack series were to be made (and I personally think that animation would be better for it, since cartoon kids don't age unless their creators want them to, so an animated series could conceivably go on for years without having to replace the actors), I would hope that they would go the route of the live-action pilot and lose the 'secret' angle, since I personally can't stand the whole "we have to hide what makes us special from our friends and loved ones" shtick.

[Kenny E. McCall]

I agree with you right there on Power Pack being an animated series. But since there was an unaired pilot, I wished that they had shown the pilot and followed the outline of that pilot if they made the series years ago. It still can happen under those circumstances today, but now with different actors in the role.

Now, if you want a real start to those Disney/Marvel crossovers, although comedically, Disney and Marvel should jointly produce an episode of Phineas and Ferb, called "Phineas and Ferb Save the Marvel Universe," where the world-devourer Galactus has landed in P&F's hometown, looking to eat the Earth. Despite all their attempts to defeat Galactus, all of the superheroes fail, until Phineas, Ferb, Candace, Vanessa, Dr. Doofensmirtz, and even Perry the Platypus, use their combined talents to save not only their hometown, but the Marvel and Disney Universes as well!

Then, there could be a sequel called "Phineas and Ferb Against the Marvel Super-Villains," where the duo find themselves recruited by SHIELD to become superheroes themselves, finding inventive ways to defeat every single Marvel super-baddie before dinner time!