Top 10 Comic Book Characters Who Need Their Own Shows
10.
Jonah Hex
We’ll admit that Jonah Hex isn’t a typical superhero, but he’s the star of a compelling
comic book series that unfortunately saw his brand tainted with the stink of a horrible
movie.
But there’s still plenty of material to mine, and combining a western with supernatural,
otherworldly stuff could absolutely work as a gritty, ass kicking series.
Plus, the plot lends itself perfectly to the sort of serial storytelling that’s made
shows like The Walking Dead so popular.
Speaking of Walking Dead (another comic book show), AMC would have been the perfect landing
spot for Jonah Hex… except they’ve already got a gritty western called Hell on Wheels.
So with that in mind, and understanding that Jonah Hex is a disfigured bounty hunter who
has no problem whipping out his guns and blasting bad guys, a premium channel like Showtime
might make sense.
9.
Mystique
Mystique has been getting a lot of attention on the big screen over the last decade, especially
since Jennifer Lawrence stepped into the role.
But she’s yet to make the jump to the small screen, even though there are few comic book
characters that better lend themselves to a serialized show.
Why are we so convinced that Mystique would make a great TV star?
It’s simple, really — she’s a shape shifter.
That means she can be anyone from week to week, and her interactions and adventures
can be tremendously varied.
We’d love to see her get an Alias-type show where she’s a shady covert operative, using
her powers to go undercover and pull off high risk missions for both good and evil.
She’s morally ambiguous enough that she could legitimately go either way based on
what the plot dictates, and she would be an amazing character to plop right smack down
in the middle of international espionage.
Cast a hot young up and coming actress like AnnaSophia Robb and you’ve got a great foundation
right there.
8.
Black Panther
Marvel recently announced plans to turn Black Panther into a big screen hero, and chances
are he’s going to be folded into the Avengers universe along with Guardians of the Galaxy.
But there’s absolutely no reason Black Panther couldn’t extend to the television side of
things, considering the Avengers universe has already grown to include Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
and the upcoming Agent Carter.
Black Panther debuted in an issue of Fantastic Four, and became the first black superhero
in mainstream comic books.
The title of Black Panther actually goes to the chief of the Panther Tribe in fictional
Wakanda, a nation that’s going to play a major role going forward since it’s the
country that produces vibranium, better known as “that stuff Captain America’s shield
is made from.”
The guy who becomes the vigilante superhero Black Panther is T’Challa, and he becomes
one for the same reason so many others do: to avenge the death of his father, the king
of the Black Panther tribe.
Along the way he had a relationship with Storm of X-Men fame and joined the Avengers.
If you can’t milk a long running series about a guy like that, then we just don’t
know what to tell you.
7.
Gambit
Everyone has been clamoring for Gambit to appear in an X-Men film — any X-Men film
— for years now, while carefully ignoring the horrible portrayal he got in the awful
X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
And now it looks like we’ll finally be getting one, with Channing Tatum set to star as the
X-Men cinematic universe expands.
But we’re going to be honest here — we don’t want to see Gambit as a member of
the X-Men.
We want to see the dashing Cajun rogue before he ever joined forces with Wolverine and the
gang.
We want to see a young Gambit being charming and more than a little shady.
The Gambit we want is the one from his days as a professional thief, who skirts the edges
of the criminal underworld while still pulling off heroic acts to make himself a true anti-hero.
Seriously, are you going to try to tell us you wouldn’t watch a show about a card playing
master thief who fights with a bo staff and can harness pure kinetic energy, seduce ladies
and make witty quips?
We thought so.
6.
Doctor Doom
The arch-nemesis of the Fantastic Four is pretty darned interesting.
He’s a brilliant scientist, he has superpowers, and he has his own freaking country.
That’s right, the dude is not only a supervillain and a sorcerer, but a full-fledged dictator.
Apparently that’s not cool enough for the upcoming Fantastic Four reboot, which is re-imagining
him as an antisocial hacker if reports are to be believed.
Apparently that’s the one stupid cliche evil character that screenwriters just can’t
let go of.
So with that awful (reported) re-imagining of Victor von Doom, we would totally be on
board with his more traditional persona getting his own show.
It could go in a number of directions, from showing his rise to power and his early run-ins
with Reed Richards and the accident that created the Fantastic Four, to focusing on the aftermath
of that accident instead.
That’s when Doom wandered the earth and was eventually taken in by Tibetan monks,
after which he took all of their teachings and disciplines and decided to go forge a
suit of armor and become Doctor Doom.
Because Tibetan monks are nothing if not egomaniacal psychopaths bent on world conquest and revenge,
we guess?
5.
Captain Marvel
Isn’t it about time that a female superhero got a chance to shine on TV?
Back in the day we actually got a pretty strong Wonder Woman show, but attempts have fizzled
over the years to replicate that success, most recently with a disastrous attempt to
bring the Amazon warrior back to television.
But we think that could change if some network decided to take a chance with Carol Danvers,
better known as Captain Marvel.
Marvel recently announced plans to make a Captain Marvel movie, but we’d be just as
happy if she got her own TV series.
Captain Marvel is actually a name various people have used through the history of Marvel
comics.
But we’re sticking with Danvers here, in large part because fanboy favorite Katee Sackhoff
not only bears a striking resemblance but has expressed an interest in playing the part.
Danvers had previously been known as Ms. Marvel before getting the promotion to Captain in
2012, and had been a member of the US Air Force before, long story short, an explosion
gave her superpowers.
Don’t try that at home, kids.
4.
Y: The Last Man
For awhile, Y: The Last Man was rumored to be in progress as either a movie or a miniseries.
In fact, Shia LeBeouf was perpetually rumored to be playing the lead, which makes us pretty
glad that they decided to ditch the idea altogether.
However, Y: The Last Man is a story that, while not well known by casual comic fans,
would make for an incredible show.
It would have to be on a premium cable channel, or at least AMC or FX, and it would work best
as a limited run series of two or three seasons.
For those unfamiliar with the comic, it’s a dystopian science fiction story about a
young man named Yorick who, well, is the last man.
It’s really right there in the title.
He wanders the country with his pet monkey, somehow having survived a mysterious plague
that wiped out everything else with a Y chromosome on the entire planet.
Being the only man in the world obviously leads to some strange and dangerous situations,
and part of the plot involves the remaining government learning about Yorick and trying
to get him to Boston to be examined and cloned in order to keep humanity from dying out.
Due to the unusual plot and the fact that it’d be a cast comprised almost entirely
of women, it’s likely regular networks would avoid it out of fear it might not capture
their key demographics.
But hey, people thought Orange is the New Black would be a tough sell to men, and it’s
become one of the most popular shows around.
We have a feeling Y: The Last Man would be even more popular, if done well.
3.
Lex Luthor
It’s pretty easy to envision Lex Luthor at the center of a television show.
In fact, DC already has a good blueprint for telling the early story of Superman’s arch-nemesis.
The one thing Gotham has consistently done well is its portrayal of the Penguin, to the
point where even Patton Oswalt took to Twitter and suggested that the show could become great
if they overhauled things to make Oswald Cobblepot the central figure.
Now just take that idea, insert Lex Luthor in place of the Penguin, and that’s a heck
of a show.
Luthor has been portrayed as both a mad scientist and an evil businessman, and there’s nothing
that says he couldn’t dabble in both worlds in his own show.
Why not make him an evil version of Tony Stark?
The compelling part of a show about Luthor would be his rise through the world of organized
crime in Metropolis as he uses his genius intellect to manipulate people.
Smallville showed that even in a show about young Clark Kent, Lex Luthor is going to be
the most interesting character.
Time to build on that and give us a Lex Luthor show that falls somewhere between Gotham and
Boardwalk Empire.
2.
Booster Gold
Another more obscure superhero, the seeds for a Booster Gold show were already planted
by Smallville, when he popped up for an episode late in the show’s run.
So who is Booster Gold, and what are his powers?
Honestly, that’s the best part — he doesn’t have any.
Well, outside of possessing technology from the future.
Because Booster Gold’s from the future, and he decided to bring fancy gadgets back
to contemporary America to win himself fame and fortune.
Basically, Booster Gold is what happens when you take Syndrome from The Incredibles and
make him a good guy.
He’s an ordinary man with advanced technology who just wants to convince the world that
he’s a superhero.
The big difference is that, despite being a con artist, beneath the surface he actually
does have the heart of a hero (even though he may not quite realize it).
And that’s what the show would be about — Booster Gold gradually coming to the realization
that not only does it take more than cool toys to become a superhero, but he’s got
that special something inside him already.
1.
Checkmate
You probably haven’t heard of Checkmate, but if you’re a DC fan and have watched
Smallville, Arrow or Gotham then you’re at least somewhat familiar with a few of the
characters.
That’s because one character in particular has already popped up in different incarnations.
See, Checkmate was a short lived comic book series in the late 1980s that had another
short run a few years ago.
It’s about a covert ops agency run by Amanda Waller (recognize the name, Smallville and
Arrow fans?).
Law enforcement agents are recruited from around the world to join this somewhat shady
team and engage in international intrigue.
The team is called Checkmate because its members — which include Harvey Bullock, as seen
on Gotham — are called Bishop, Rook and so forth.
Think of a show like Alias, and then turn it into a team of highly trained, borderline
superheroes pulling off Mission: Impossible style operations.
Honestly, who doesn’t want to watch a show like that?