When it comes to Disney and Marvel’s current run of film and television properties going gangbusters – the most recent being Doctor Strange – they’ve seemed all but impervious to any bump in the road, with the unique exception of the much mulled about Inhumans film, originally announced two years ago alongside Doctor Strange, Black Panther, Civil War, Captain Marvel, and Infinity War. The Marvel comic was largely expected to serve as the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s answer to Fox’s ownership of the X-Men characters and storylines, but alas, an Inhumans film was apparently not tenable, as Marvel and Disney announced six months ago that they would be removing Inhumans from their release schedule and would replace it with an unnamed property instead (which might actually be more exciting).
Basically, Marvel realized that preparation and casting for the Inhumans movie would prove to be more of an undertaking than originally conceived, as the Inhumans feature a large group of super-powered individuals whose powers are revealed following Thanos’ detonation of a device that releases a thing called “terrigen mist.” So in keeping with the ultra-tight storyline construction of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s plot lines, Marvel opted to remove the film that would introduce dozens of new characters at a time in a condensed origin story film, and opted for something else.
That was roughly six months ago, and following the release of Civil War and Doctor Strange, all was fine in the world of fanboys, many of whom had all but forgotten about the ill-fated Inhumans film, until MCU puppeteer Kevin Feige casually dropped hints in an interview that Inhumans hadn’t been totally abandoned, simply that they might be better suited for some sort of television event. Then, with little to no heads up, Marvel announced the company’s intentions of releasing the first two episodes of the upcoming ABC series in an exclusive IMAX theatre run for two weeks in the summer of 2017.
"Marvel's @TheInhumans" comes to @ABCNetwork in Fall 2017! See the first two episodes Summer 2017 in #IMAX. https://t.co/Ts7blkTOJo pic.twitter.com/HVlnbFCkYd
— Marvel Entertainment (@Marvel) November 15, 2016
Outside of the show’s release schedule, details are limited, though Marvel and ABC were willing to divulge that the series would focus on key characters from the most popular Inhumans storylines – ones that feature the Atilan Royal Family, which includes Black Bolt, Medusa, Karnak, Lockjaw, and Maximus the Mad. The Inhumans television series is a no-brainer for ABC and Marvel, as Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D has already featured a number of Inhumans in its storylines, so having an exclusively Inhuman television show should be of little to no consequence when it comes to tying in the two series.
That being said, the film fate of Inhumans is yet to be determined, though Marvel and ABC have expressed on a number of occasions that the best course of action is keeping most of the television properties separate from the film projects. So while the new ABC series is a small victory, it appears as though there may not be any plans for an Inhumans film, but perhaps having eight hour long episodes as opposed to a single two and a half hour movie will best serve the Royal Family.
This article originally appeared in Men’s Trait as “Everything we know about Marvel’s Inhumans.”
