Five Other Marvel TV Shows I Would Watch

At this point, we’ve all heard  the news that Netflix is making four new Marvel shows based on Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Iron Fist and Luke Cage. I’m excited, you’re excited, and the Marvel universe grows ever larger.

But what if the Marvel universe was free of its more…traditional constraints? I got to think about five possible shows I’d like to see out of Marvel, and which networks would be best to air them. Some are current film franchises, some are dead ones, some have barely been tried at all yet. But all I think could be interesting, and I’d love to hear your own thoughts about them, or any ideas you have yourself. Here goes:

X-Men: Academy (The CW)

Oh shut up, don’t knock the CW just because you don’t think it’s for you. I didn’t either, and sure enough, Arrow is good, The Vampire Diaries is good, Supernatural is good and hell I’ve even heard Hart of Dixie is good. I could definitely see an X-Men show set at Professor X’s Academy for Gifted Youngsters working here on this channel.

Yes, we just did a “first class” movie, and the Academy has been done to death in present day as well with the first few X-movies, but I don’t think it’s impossible to imagine it redesigned from the ground up with an entirely new cast. I dig the idea of a superpowered high school drama with periodic threats from the baddies of the X-Men universe. It would obviously have to be reduced in scope from the films, but I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing. With good writing and effective characters, that’s all it would need to be a success.

Punisher (Starz)

Why Starz and not HBO? I’m thinking of what their Spartacus team could do with the Punisher, and I’m almost giggling in delight just picturing it. They did revenge-y violence SO incredibly well in Spartacus, and even had a pretty damn good story to boot making me think the opportunity is there to make an effective show for the Punisher. And hell, I bet they could even get Tom Jane himself to star. What else is the guy doing?

And the best part is, there’s no rival movie franchise that would even complicate this. Punisher 2 was something of an atrocity, and no one is begging to go back to that well for a third time. The Punisher would work great as a series, and especially so if handled the same way Spartacus was.

Deadpool (FX)

Alright, this one I like. Deadpool is a blend of hard R-rated violence and irreverent comedy, so I really couldn’t think of a better place for the show to land than FX, which has shows that are usually one or the other, but not both.

I don’t know enough about Deadpool lore to talk about all the different team-ups and villains that would accompany the show, but I know giving him a show on FX is a great idea.  Hell, it could even be animated Archer-style, because the role is going to be pretty much all voicework anyway.

Doom (NBC)

This may be a bit high concept to actually work, but I’m picturing a Fantastic Four/Doctor Doom show where Doom himself is actually the main focus, a-la-NBC’s Hannibal. It would be interesting to see a more well-rounded picture of a Marvel villain (other than Loki), and I think Doom would be a good trial subject. Plus, he could be played by Mads Mikkelsen. Kidding, but that would kind of awesome if you think about it.

This is the only one I’m putting on a regular network, because NBC is so desperate these days they’ll take a chance on some higher concept stuff (again, like Hannibal). And yes, I realize that for all of these I’m ignoring the fact that Disney/ABC owns everything Marvel now so this is technically impossible.

Wolverine (HBO)

It’s becoming clear that Wolverine does not work in solo feature films, but I have a hunch they could base a really cool TV show around him. I think it would be a HUGE stretch to actually pull Hugh Jackman into playing the role eternally on TV when he’s already done what, freaking six X-Men films and is about to do a seventh? But that would be fantastic, if possible.

I choose HBO here because I think it has the level of quality that Wolverine would need to be an effective show. Yes, it would finally allow him to be brutally violent (free at last from PG-13!), but Wolverine has more depth than that, and I think a show focused solely on him could be extremely well written and beautifully shot by the right team.