This is the Geek in Review, the segment where we discuss the top stories in geekdom from the past week. Here are some notable developments:
NBC’s Heroes was notable for being one of the biggest highs in superhero television, followed by one of the lowest lows. Heroes started out so well, with interesting characters, a bag full of mysteries, and awesome superpowers. Unfortunately, as the seasons wore on (and the infamous writers strike did its damage), the show ground to a halt. The show increasingly looked directionless and frustrating.
Despite its later failings, the show proved that superheroes were no longer just for geeky male teenagers, they could appeal to a broad audience. It’s no coincidence that since its inception in 2006, superheroes have become a big deal. Movies like The Dark Knight and The Avengers have shown Hollywood that there is money to be made in a good superhero story. A lot of that success is owed to Heroes.
We learned this week that Heroes might not be dead after all. Like any good superhero, the show was just lying in wait until the right moment to strike. The time has never been better.
Without further ado, NBC has announced plans to release a Heroes mini-series in 2015:
“The enormous impact ‘Heroes’ had on the television landscape when it first launched in 2006 was eye-opening,” said NBC’s Jennifer Salke. “Shows with that kind of resonance don’t come around often and we thought it was time for another installment. We’re thrilled that visionary creator Tim Kring was as excited about jumping back into this show as we were and we look forward to all the new textures and layers Tim plans to add to his original concept. Until we get closer to air in 2015, the show will be appropriately shrouded in secrecy, but we won’t rule out the possibility of some of the show’s original cast members popping back in.”
Speaking of heroes, comic book fans were titillated last month when Marvel announced plans to develop a series of shows to be run exclusively on Netflix streaming. This week, we learned that all five shows (Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist and the team-up series The Defenders) will take place on-location in New York City. This is a good sign and shows that Netflix and Marvel are sparing no expense in the production of these Netflix Originals.
We also learned a bit more about the shows themselves. Each with feature 13 episodes and they will follow that up with four to eight episode crossover event featuring all the characters. It’s an interesting way of doing things that harkens more towards Marvel’s handling of its movies than anything we’ve seen on our television sets. Hopefully, after watching 52 hours of these heroes, audiences will really be ready to watch them team up to fight evil on a grander scale.
The shows are set to begin airing in 2015, further proving that 2015 may just be the Year of the Hero.
A cool short film by Patrick Jean about when retro video games attack New York City is now being developed to be a feature-length film starring none other than Adam Sandler.
There is very little in the way of a story and the short film gives us very little clues, but the studio is billing it as “a tentpole-sized action-comedy in the vein of “Ghostbusters.” We’ll see.
Shots of epic destruction and crazy government conspiracies are plentiful, but what really makes it is Bryan Cranston’s intense voice-over. The film hits theaters on May 16th, but we are ready NOW!
