Catching up on #scifi and #fantasy news from last week while I was out of town. I will resume the normal schedule for this post starting this Friday.
The Upcoming Season Of #TheXFilesWill Have Mostly Standalone Episodes
The second revival season of The X-Files is in the works at FOX and will be hitting the small screen in early 2018. At the TCAs, network president David Madden discussed the show and indicated that the upcoming ten-episode season will consist mostly of standalone episodes. He said that the season premiere would be a mythology episode–somewhat necessary considering the cliffhanger last season ended on–as would the season finale, but the rest would follow the case-of-the-week format. This may be due to negative reaction to the first revival season which tried to completely throw out the mythology established over the show’s original nine-year run, then attempted to backtrack on that a bit. The show did well in the ratings in the 2015-16 season, but did not receive glowing reviews from fans or critics. The best-received episodes were the standalone entries, and that could be why there is a push for more of that in the coming season.
Robert Kirkman Is Walking Over To Amazon
The co-creator of The Walking Dead comic book Robert Kirkman has signed a development deal with Amazon. The streaming service believes that Kirkman shares their vision of “elevated genre storytelling that pushes boundaries” and will have him working on projects in that direction. There are no specifics at this point as to what he will be working on, but the writer has plenty of his own stories to draw from. While AMC has The Walking Dead plus the upcoming Thief of Thieves, and Cinemax has Outcast, Kirkman has created other comics that could be adapted to television. Among those are the superhero series Invincible and the humorous sci fi romp Super Dinosaur. He could also develop original ideas or adapt other properties for the streaming service.
Netflix Buys Mark Millar’s Comic Book Company
Netflix has had some success with comic book characters, namely its Defenders series based on the Marvel characters Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, et al, and now the streaming service owns a comic book company. They have acquired Mark Millar’s Millarworld which is noted for such titles as Kingsman and Kick-Ass. Netflix plans to develop several of that company’s properties to television series and will also continue the Millarworld imprint which will publish comics under the Netflix banner. There are no details at this point on which titles they plan to adapt to the small screen–not to include Kingsman or Kick-Ass which have separate feature file deals–but I would expect to hear development announcements by the end of the year if not sooner.
‘The Munsters’ To Get A Reboot . . Again!
In the reboots-that-we-do-not-need category, NBC is once again looking to bring backthe ghoulish capers of the Munster family to television. Saturday Night Live alum Seth Meyers will executive produce the show which will move the monstrous misfits from suburbia (where the original 1960’s show was set) to modern-day hipster Brooklyn. It is unclear at this point if NBC is considering this as a possible mid-season replacement or if it will be part of the 2018 Pilot Season. NBC previously tried to reboot the property with 2012’s Mockingbird Lane which was written by Bryan Fuller and directed by Bryan Singer. The network passed on that pilot, though it has developed some cult attention. There was also a syndicated series that acted as a sequel to the original, though with new cast members, which aired for three seasons from 1988 to 1991, but that has since been reviled as a black mark on the franchise.
NBC Working On High-Tech Thriller With Mazerunner Director
In other development news from NBC, the network has teamed with Mazerunnerdirector Wes Ball on the future-tech drama Mosaic. Deadline Hollywood gives the following description of the project:
‘Mosaic’ is set in a near-future metropolis and follows the interconnected lives of a diverse set of characters struggling to navigate their relationships in the face of emerging technologies.
Ball will be directing the pilot and this will likely be one of the entries that NBC will be considering for their 2018-19 schedule.
#KnightRider Could Hit The Road Again
David Hasselhoff is talking about revving the engines again with a new Knight Riderseries, and Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn could be onboard as well. Hasselhoff made a cameo appearance in the second Guardians move, and he claims that led to discussions with Gunn about bringing back the 80’s TV series:
We’re talking about doing a full-blown TV series and we’re working on the rights right now. And it really came out of my relationship with James and the fact the watched the show when he was 8 years old.
You can read more about the possible reboot/revival on MoviePilot.com here.
The Defenders Debuts On Netflix This Week
This week brings two late Summer premieres along with a couple of shows wrapping up their seasons. On Friday, the long-awaited The Defenders finally arrives on Netflix as Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist (along with The Punisher and Elektra) team up for the first time. On Sunday, TNT’s The Last Ship finally arrives for its Season 4 premiere. On Monday, Freeform’s two genre entries Stitchers and Shadowhunters have their season finales. You can keep up with the weekly listings of sci fi and fantasy shows here.
First Trailer for Van Helsing Season 2
Syfy’s vampire-pocalypse series Van Helsing returns this Fall and the first trailer has been released giving us a glimpse of what is to come. The show focuses on Vanessa Helsing, who is the last surviving member of the Van Helsing vampire-hunting family, and in the second season she will face off against more powerful bloodsuckers than what she has seen in the past. The show has not been given a premiere date, but I expect it to debut at some point in September or early October. You can see the preliminary Fall schedule of sci fi and fantasy shows here.
