Sci Fi TV News Briefs: Ghost Rider and Helstrom Series Coming to Hulu; Phil Lord and Chris Miller Will Bring the Spider-verse to TV, and More

Sci Fi TV News Briefs: Quick hits keeping you updated on sci fi and fantasy television news.

More MCU at Hulu: Disney is now a majority owner of the Hulu streaming service (and could soon be the sole owner) and the Mouse House is using the platform to expand its Marvel Universe offerings. Heading to the streaming service is a Ghost Rider series that will be a spin-off from Agents of SHIELD, and Gabriel Luna will be returning as Robbie Reyes. Deadline Hollywood gives the following description of the show:

The antihero Ghost Rider, also known as Robbie Reyes is consumed by hellfire and supernaturally bound to a demon. Reyes lives on the Texas/Mexico border and when he unleashes the Rider, Robbie brings vengeance for the innocents he encounters, but struggles to control the power he wields.

Also headed to Hulu is Helstrom based on the character Damien Helstrom from the comics. Deadline Hollywood gives the following description of the show:

Daimon and Ana Helstrom are the son and daughter of a mysterious and powerful serial killer. The siblings have a complicated dynamic as they track down the terrorizing worst of humanity — each with their attitude and skills.

These shows will be joining Marvel’s Runaways which has been renewed for a third season. Also coming to Hulu are the adult animated shows Howard The Duck, M.O.D.O.K, Hit-Monkey, and Tigra & Dazzler Show which will cross-over Defenders-style in the event series The Offenders. Ghost Rider and Helstrom are targeting a 2020 debut on the streaming service.

Evangeline Lilly Boards Albedo: Former Lost star (and currently The Wasp in the MCU movies) Evangeline Lilly has joined Entertainment One’s sci fi mystery series Albedo in the leading role. Deadline Hollywood gives the following description for the show:

Albedo is set 150 years in the future. Detective Vivien Coleman (Lilly) is dispatched to the edge of our solar system to investigate a scientist’s mysterious death on board an isolated space station. She soon finds herself trapped and cut-off from Earth, along with the station’s small crew of brilliant scientists – all murder suspects – all harboring their own secrets… What begins as a classic murder mystery evolves into a fight for survival that may threaten the future of our species.

The series will likely be targeting a 2020 launch and will run on Vudu on the U.S. which will be that streaming service’s first entry in original scripted programming.

Back Into the Spider-verse: Uber-producers Phil Lord and Chris Miller have inked a lucrative deal with Sony Pictures Television which will include working on multiple shows based on the Mavel characters that Sony holds the rights to. There are no specifics on the shows they plan to produce, but this could include one or more spin-offs from their hit animated film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse. The projects that they will be working on will be both animated and live action, but they will not be tied to the Marvel Universe shows and movies controlled by Disney.

Down the Rivers of London: Simon Pegg’s and Nick Frost’s production company Stolen Pictures is working on a TV adaptation of Ben Aaronovitch’s fantasy book series Rivers of London. SlashFilm.com offered the synopsis from the first book:

Probationary Constable Peter Grant dreams of being a detective in London’s Metropolitan Police. Too bad his superior plans to assign him to the Case Progression Unit, where the biggest threat he’ll face is a paper cut. But Peter’s prospects change in the aftermath of a puzzling murder, when he gains exclusive information from an eyewitness who happens to be a ghost. Peter’s ability to speak with the lingering dead brings him to the attention of Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Nightingale, who investigates crimes involving magic and other manifestations of the uncanny. Now, as a wave of brutal and bizarre murders engulfs the city, Peter is plunged into a world where gods and goddesses mingle with mortals and a long-dead evil is making a comeback on a rising tide of magic.

There is no network attached to the project at this point, but it should draw plenty of interest.

Willow Could Return as a TV Series: Disney+ is considering a television series based on the 1988 Ron Howard / George Lucas fantasy film Willow. Jon Kasdan (Solo: A Star Wars Story) has pitched the idea to the Mouse House and it is currently under consideration. The film followed a dwarf named Willow who finds himself as the protector of a child who has been prophesied to end the reign of an evil queen that rules over the lands. A young Val Kilmer starred in the series as the Han Solo-like Madmartigan.