With successful shows like Arrow, The Flash, and Gotham on the rise, it’s no wonder that Fox is chomping at the bit to get into the game and cash in on the popularity that are Superheroes on TV. And without further adieu, we bring you a live action X-Men that’s about to join the gambit of shows already slated. Gambit. Heh-heh!
According to the Hollywood Reporter:
“Sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that the network is having preliminary conversations to adapt the iconic Marvel comic series — and feature film franchise — as a live-action television series with 24 producers Evan Katz and Manny Coto involved.
Fox’s potential live-action series is being penned by Star Trek 3 writing duo Patrick McKay and JD Payne, sources tell THR, who will share a created by credit on the project with Katz and Coto. Katz and Coto will serve as show-runners.”
Whoa! Star Trek 3 writing duo Patrick McKay and JD Payne? Hmmmm – since ST3 is currently not out, I have no opinion on this choice. But – I do love the new Star Trek movies (even though I know some do not). That being said, looks like Fox is definitely ponying up some dough to get this new series off the ground. And why wouldn’t they?
The CW’s Arrow had over 3 millions viewers on average for both season 1 and 2. That’s not too shabby for a comic that most people didn’t follow like they would, say, Batman or Superman. Even so, The Flash and Marvel’s Agents of Shield on average have about 4 million viewers per episode. And Gotham racks up 6 million on average, which begs to be asked: so what? Well, when you start adding up all these different viewers scattered across their favorite comic book TV series, you have a power web of viewers in place. And with a powerful web of viewers, comes a lot of advertising money.
The popularity of Arrow, Flash, Agents of Shield, and Gotham have paved the way for shows like DareDevil, Jessica Jones, and Iron Fist on Netflix, and Fox won’t be left out. Gotta get that piece of the pie! And they intend to get their pie through X-Men.
Fox is no stranger to milking the X-Men cow, since it has produced a slew of X-Men films, with a solo Gambit film on the way, but a live-action X-Men TV series would be new territory for them.
Hollywood Reporter continues to say:
“While conversations to bring the franchise to the small screen are under way, sources indicate a deal is far from complete with Marvel — which owns the comic rights — still having to sign off on the deal.”
AH! Marvel, of course. But Fox entertainment chairmen Gary Newman told TVInsider,
“It’s in negotiations… We’re cautiously optimistic, we had a good meeting with them. That will not be on a fast track creatively. This is just the deal, now we have to find the creative.”
Let’s hope “creative” doesn’t = lame. If there is one thing we don’t need, it’s a terrible X-Men TV show. We had enough of that with the movies. ZING! Just kidding. I’m actually a fan of the movies, if you don’t care about continuity or storylines that matter. I mean, who cares when Hugh Jackman is involved. That guy could poop gold, and I’d watch it!
Gabbing Geek 