The CW has found its Smallville follow-up. Creator of Supernatural, Eric Kripke, will be writing and producing a Deadman television series for them, currently in the developmental stage.
The series will be a drama says Deadline. Based on the character created by Arnold Drake and Carmine Infantino in Strange Adventures #205, Deadman, aka Boston Brand is a former trapeze artist murdered during a performance and fated to continue on as a ghost. Deadman, who is starting in the upcoming arc of the new DC Universe Presents series starting in September, is given the “gift” to inhabit any living beings’ body thanks to the Hindu goddess Rama Kushna in order to help them solve crimes in their own lives.
“We’re looking next year to do a superhero show if the right superhero comes to be,” CW president Mark Pedowitz said at TCA last month, noting the advantage of having Time Warner-owned DC Comics in the family.
Back in September of 2009, it was reported that Guillermo Del Toro was producing a big-screen adaptation of the character for Warner Bros. but it would seem they changed their minds about which direction they wanted to go in.
Boston Brand has been the focal point of several recent DC events such as Blackest Night and Brightest Day. giving him the kind of spotlight he’s never had before. It’s an strange direction to go in after Smallville but maybe that’s why it will work. Deadman’s turned into a much more interesting character for me and I think his story will make for a cool show.
What are your thoughts?
August 25th, 2011 at 10:11 pm
As you said, this is a rather weird pick. I’d have thought a character like Jack Knight, with the Starman legacy behind him, would be a more natural choice. And does this mean that Blue Beetle test footage never went anywhere?
August 25th, 2011 at 10:27 pm
Ten bucks says this ends up on the same night as Supernatural. Is that still on tv?
August 25th, 2011 at 10:41 pm
It’s Quantum Leap but with ghosts instead of time travel.
CW does it again!
But this still doesn’t make up for what you people did to Veronica Mars.
August 25th, 2011 at 11:25 pm
I would love for this to be a series done exactly as it was done in the comics, but I think this is one that will have to be heavily modified. Probably either done away with the trapeze artist background or the Rama Kushna connection. Otherwise I see the general public having similar perceptions of this one that they did of The Cape…just a little too out there.
On the other hand how cool of an opportunity would this be to bring in DC’s supernatural characters the way Smallville did the DC superheroes? You can bring in the same actress from Smallville to be Zatanna, get a new Dr. Fate….add in Etrigan, Spectre, Madame Xanadu, maybe Constantine, Shade the Changing Man, or Enchantress (yes, Im channeling Justice League Dark here). If the show has any sense of humor, maybe even Blue Devil (a stuntman trapped as a demon would be an interesting comparison to a trapeze artist trapped as a ghost!)
August 26th, 2011 at 1:56 am
That’s kind of awesome, if it makes it past the pilot stage. Kripke is a good choice.
And maybe this also means that SPN will go off the air before it goes totally sour.
August 26th, 2011 at 2:48 am
I already like it!
August 26th, 2011 at 4:44 am
Pretty cool, but I thinks a Spectre tv show would be all kinds of awesome!
August 26th, 2011 at 5:16 am
I think Patrick describes exactly why this isn’t the thrilling news it should be. A Deadman series would be a wonderfully quirky departure from expectations — if it wasn’t so dreadfully ready-made to be mediocre.
August 26th, 2011 at 6:10 am
I love DEADMAN, and I would TOTALLY watch a DEADMAN TV show, but, I gotta admit…given the CW treatment, it’d really come across as an EMO QUANTUM LEAP.
August 26th, 2011 at 6:19 am
Any bet the CW would find a way to ruin this and make it suck like the new Teen Wolf TV show.
August 26th, 2011 at 6:54 am
This character is perfect for television. Hopefully this will open the doors for a Phantom Stranger/Dr. 13 tv series.
August 26th, 2011 at 7:15 am
I think Deadman is a perfect choice for a tv series. Each week given a new story.
I always though Ressurection Man would also make a great TV show. In a Fugative/Incredible Hulk vein.
August 26th, 2011 at 7:16 am
+1 Quantum Leap
August 26th, 2011 at 7:21 am
A Boy Named Art, the Blue Beetle footage that Johns had shown a while back is in the Smallville episode “Booster”.
I agree with pretty much everyone’s assessment that this definitely seems like another Quantam Leap on the surface, but if done well, it could be pretty cool.
August 26th, 2011 at 8:05 am
Cool, I love Deadman.
The early Strange Adventure tales actually would translate well to television, since every month he would almost discover his killer, turn out to be wrong but end up saving the day in some fashion anyway. I’d love to see something like that.
August 26th, 2011 at 8:41 am
I don’t care anymore. I really don’t. They can make this as “cool” as they want. At this point, it’s no longer a novelty. Let me finish.
In my life, I’ve seen what started as a few raindrops turn into a veritable flood of mismanaged, mishandled, misinterpreted drivel. What do we actually have as fans? Really nothing. Hollywood has your money now. But have we really ever been TRULY satisfied with the product. I mean seriously. Even with The Dark Knight. Even with X-Men: First Class. I mean, maybe if you’re a kid and you have no basic idea of what’s going on, it’s all good. Or! If you’re a kid and you’re just so happy to see Superman on the big screen that you don’t mind so much that they keep Gene Hackman’s curly locks, ditch the Luthor costume and at the end of the film, reveal that Luthor was just wearing a freaking wig, not to mention that they turned it into a hilarious comedy for the parents having to be dragged to the theater because the eight-year-old can’t drive himself. Watch the same movie today. Go ahead! Pop it into the Blu-Ray player today. See if it feels the same today it did back in ’78.
See if you remain in denial that today’s superhero flicks are just vehicles for young actors and their overpaid agents. Oh granted, it doesn’t work like magic for all of them. Remember Superman Returns? Remember how that worked out for Brandon Routh? Did you actually go see Dylan Dog? Aw hell! Don’t tell me you did!
Anyway, I guess I grew up. I changed and superhero flicks didn’t. They’re still…flicks. I just didn’t know it when I was eight.
And your “Deadman” will be no different. You’ll be so giddy to see him come to life on a screen of any size that you couldn’t care less if they made his costume pink.
August 26th, 2011 at 9:06 am
They’d end up changing it or “retooling” it way too much. As much as I like the character I just don’t it’s enough to sustain an ongoing show. They missed the boat, they should’ve done a young Bruce Wayne show along with Smallville. Yes, Smallville had it’s flaws… but overall they did a good job. They could have done a spinoff and had both on during the week. But for some reason they made the Bruce Wayne character extremely off limits which in my opinion is stupid.
Add in Diana and you could have had either a recurring character on both shows or even a 3rd spinoff. But Deadman? Birds of Prey? Wasn’t there rumors of a Robin show?
In my opinion they could do a kick-ass Ultimate Spider-Man, though they would never do that because a) the movie is coming out, b) It’s Marvel, and c) the cartoon series is coming out too.
August 26th, 2011 at 9:11 am
I tend to look at tv and film adaptions of heroes as an alternate Earth or an alternate take, because they are never going to be 100% translated into another medium.
August 26th, 2011 at 9:21 am
Kripke’s 5 season arc of “Supernatural were a real treat to watch, so I’ll be looking forward to seeing what he can do with Deadman.
I’m guessing people who are worried he might change the trapeze artists and hindu goddesses are thinking back to how the CW mangled Smallville more than Kripke’s work on Supernatural. Carnies and hindu goddesses? That actually sounds like it’s right in Kripke’s midwestern gothic wheelhouse.
August 26th, 2011 at 11:21 am
Hopefully, it won’t be as cheesy as Smallville.
August 26th, 2011 at 11:26 am
CW doesnt have the best track record at successfully converting these announcements into actual shows. Hopefully, old Boston will break the curse: http://superheroshows.blogspot.com/2011/08/will-deadman-be-doa-on-cw.html
August 26th, 2011 at 12:20 pm
Deadman is a really under appreciated character, but with the right people it would find an audience.
August 26th, 2011 at 4:19 pm
Would’ve liked a Zatanna or Madame Xanadu series, but I’ll give Boston a shot.
August 26th, 2011 at 7:24 pm
Sound like Quantum Leap. Been there done that.
August 26th, 2011 at 7:26 pm
I would like to see a JSA or Legion of Superheroes
August 26th, 2011 at 8:49 pm
I think it’s a great choice! I imagine it would be very much like THE FUGITIVE except that Boston Brand would be searching for his own killer (who, coincidentally, is also a “one-arm man”). Also, the movie GHOST, starring Demi Moore and the late Patrick Swayze, was a big hit, and it had similar themes. I could see the need for a regular co-star who would, most likely, be a female potential love-interest (reporter/journalist perhaps?). Think HERE COMES MR. JORDAN/HEAVEN CAN WAIT. Certainly all of the elements for a hit show are there, right down to an exciting series-ending finale!
I think another great comic book character would have been the Archie Goodwin/Walt Simonson MANHUNTER.
August 26th, 2011 at 10:16 pm
I think this will be an excellent show. There’s nothing really you need to change. The trapeze artist is now a trapeze artist for Cirque du Soleil-style troupe. Rama can still be the same, but she’ll be in the background during hte first season. The League of Assassins can stay “as is.”
And the whole “Fugitive meets Quantum Leap” is a good mix of off-beat and formulaic. It’ll be fine as something that can rerun indivudally or in a block.
All they really need is someone charismatic in the part of Deadman/Boston Brand. Someone with a Chevy Chase wryness, but a very dark sense of humor.
August 27th, 2011 at 4:08 pm
I’d watch this if they avoided all that teen drama BS on the CW. Supernatural has been amazing on the CW and so has Nikita. I do not want to see Deadman as a teenager longing to consummate.
August 28th, 2011 at 1:56 am
Gotham Central! I want my police procedurals with a fantastic backdrop. Renee Montoya and Crispus Allen. Bullock, Gordon, Corrigan. With all the CSI and Law and Order spinoffs there’s gotta be a market for this!
The occasional tapping into supervillains, and keeping Batman off-screen and part of the mystique of the city…
August 28th, 2011 at 7:26 pm
Good idea. If done right, it could definitely work.
I would’ve liked to see a faithful Jonah Hex TV series but sadly that terrible film adaptation has kind of trashed his name for the time being.
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