Best of 2010. A BIG Year for the Announcement of Film and Television Projects

Clockwise from left: Hulk, Alias, Raven and Wonder Woman television projects
were only a few of those announced in 2010.

There has been a lot of big comic book news in 2010: another year of sagging sales, the leap by all the major publishers into digital comic books, and the price point changes to $2.99 (for some Marvel books and at a cost of two pages for DC titles).

However, the biggest news has continued through the course of the year: the increase in the production of comic book properties for film and television. Just consider the slate of films that are scheduled for release over the next two years:



Thor kicks off the 2011 comic book summer movie
season and paves the way for an even more
explosive 2012!



2011: The Green Hornet, Priest, Thor, Green Lantern, X-Men: First Class, Captain America: The First Avenger, and Cowboys and Aliens.

2012: Dredd, Ghost Rider: The Spirit of Vengeance, The Wolverine, The Dark Knight Rises, The Avengers, Men in Black 3, and untitled Spider-Man and Superman films.

In the pipeline: films based on Deadpool, the Crow, the Flash, Runaways, and Ant-Man (don’t laugh), plus a sequel to Green Lantern, and a third Iron Man.

These are the biggest properties in comic books—some of them are hitting the screen for the first time for a few reasons. The special effects have enabled filmmakers to fully-realize the fantastic adventures derived from the source material. More significantly, there’s money to be had with these properties. When handled properly the financial rewards have been there over the past decade: Spider-Man (Domestic: $403,706,375/Foreign: $418,002,176), The Dark Knight (Domestic: $533,345,358/Foreign: $468,576,467), Iron Man (Domestic: $318,412,101/ Foreign: $266,762,121), and Iron Man 2 (Domestic: $312,128,345/Foreign: $309,623,643).

This year Marvel Entertainment began looking beyond movies. By appointing Jeph Loeb to its head of television, the company is aiming to make a splash with episodic series as well. In October it was announced that a new Hulk series is being developed for ABC; nothing has been solidified but Guillermo del Toro (Hellboy and Pan’s Labyrinth) and David Eick (Battlestar Galactica) have had discussions to produce the series. AKA Jessica Jones, based on the Brian Michael Bendis comic book Alias, has been greenlit and will be executive-produced and written by Melissa Rosenberg (the Twilight films). A Cloak and Dagger series is also in the very early stages for ABC Family. 

Television audiences may be ready for Powers,
Bendis' post modern look at superheroes.

Of course The Walking Dead was a mini-phenomenon for AMC when it premiered in October and the ratings remained strong over the course of its brief six episodes; a second season premieres in October of 2011. Bendis has announced that his popular series Powers is also beginning to come together with plans to air on FX; former Walking Dead writer Charles H. "Chic" Eglee is negotiating to be a writer and executive producer on the new series.

The CW will bring a Raven series to the small screen under the guidance of producer Diego Gutierrez (V and Buffy the Vampire Slayer). Raven is a longtime member of the Teen Titans and one of the more tragic heroines of the 80’s.

It was also announced that David E. Kelly would be working to bring a Wonder Woman series to television. Admittedly the writer is not sure if he is right for the project, but he is continuing his attempt to develop the idea into something feasible. A rumor also circulated in mid November that Warner Bros. might be interested in bringing a Batman series to television once Christopher Nolan finishes his Dark Knight trilogy in 2012.

Both Marvel Entertainment and DC Entertainment seem eager to mine their vast library of properties for the proper medium. I would expect that we’ll be seeing less original series with a superhero bent such as Heroes, No Ordinary Family, and The Cape; in their place will be adaptations and reinterpretations of actual comic book properties. This is a good thing unless you love Hydrox cookies, Shasta soda, Granny Goose chips, or any other pale imitations.

In 2011 it will be interesting to see how many of the rumored projects, and the ones in the earliest of stages, actually turn into ongoing television series. Right now it’s looking like were a year or so away from some programming with some seriously cool potential.

How many of these projects will come to fruition? Stay tuned.