By John Jurgensen
Forget doctors, cops and other TV perennials: Hollywood giants
are bringing comic-book characters to the small screen, hoping for
more of the franchises that have powered their movie divisions.
This fall, three new shows on three networks come from the
roster of DC Entertainment: NBC's "Constantine," about an
irreverent exorcist; Fox's "Gotham," set in the crime-ridden
hometown of future-Batman Bruce Wayne; and "The Flash," which tells
the origin story of the 760 mile-per-hour man, airing on the CW. A
fourth DC show about an undead morgue worker, "iZombie," premieres
on the CW this winter.
Rival Marvel is rolling out "Marvel's Agent Carter," an ABC
series created around a supporting character from the recent
Captain America movies. That will be followed by four Marvel TV
shows and a miniseries on Netflix, all built around a superhero
team known as the Defenders.
It's the most focused invasion of TV yet by comic-book
adaptations, marking the next phase of an onslaught that reshaped
the movie industry. Marvel, which was purchased by Walt Disney in
2009, has produced 10 films in the past six years that have grossed
a combined $7 billion world-wide. DC, part of Warner Bros. for 45
years, has lagged behind Marvel at the movies, but has had smashes
such as director Christopher Nolan's trilogy of Batman films, which
grossed $2.5 billion.
These studios now are making a major push to establish
franchises on the small screen, too. At their disposal are
thousands of characters who have already been fleshed out in print,
often over the course of decades. The shrinking cost of visual
effects is putting TV spectacle on par with the movies. "The
Flash," for example, is using completely computer-generated
versions of its main character to make him look convincing at
supersonic speeds.
Yet kryptonite lurks. The new shows must leap the divide between
people who care passionately about comic-book heroes and those who
couldn't care less. The inevitable failure of some of the new shows
could derail planned movies, or sow confusion among viewers. And
there's still little proof that casual fans who pony up for a
two-hour fantasy at the multiplex will commit to a TV season of 22
episodes. Television, though well-suited to the serialization of
comic books, ultimately rests more on character and storytelling
than visual effects.
"It's so tricky. You need to absorb the character's DNA and stay
true to it but also add something we haven't quite seen before,"
says DC's Chief Creative Officer Geoff Johns, one of a new breed of
comic-book geeks who oversee such matters.
Television history is filled with comic-book heroes. Some shows
were campy, like the 1960s "Batman" remembered for "Bam!" and "Pow"
and the Batusi. Others suffered from cheeseball writing and lame
effects, notably the rudimentary wall-walking in "The Amazing
Spider-Man" of the late 1970s. But most of these shows, including
more respected adaptations such as "The Incredible Hulk," starring
Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno, were one-off efforts. By comparison,
many of today's adaptations fit into broader studio strategies.
Last year, when "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." launched on
Disney's ABC, even some Marvel fans questioned how the show would
work without superstars such as Iron Man.
Instead, producers used "S.H.I.E.L.D." as a parallel playing
field. At the end of the season, the TV show's storyline shifted
dramatically due to events in a feature film, "Captain America: The
Winter Soldier," in which the S.H.I.E.L.D. spy agency gets
dismantled. The show returns Sept. 23.
"It's all one universe at the end of the day," says Jeph Loeb,
head of Marvel television. He came up as a comics writer and used
to share an office with his friend and current competitor at DC,
Mr. Johns.
Daredevil, a blind vigilante, was the hero of a 2003 film
starring Ben Affleck that critics shot down. The character is now
getting a second shot, with production under way on the first
Marvel series for Netflix. The 13-episode Daredevil show, expected
to premiere in 2015, will be followed by separate series devoted to
Jessica Jones (irradiated orphan), Luke Cage (ultrastrong hero-for-
hire) and Iron Fist (martial artist with super chi). Culminating in
a Defenders miniseries on Netflix, Marvel's plan is a
smaller-scale, TV version of the one used to set the stage for the
"Avengers" movie. That 2012 ensemble film was preceded by movies
for Iron Man, Thor and others, and grossed $1.5 billion
world-wide.
Warner Bros., less intent on direct crossovers, is sprinkling
its heroes among multiple networks. The studio is developing a
series based on DC's "Titans," about a young team of young heroes
including a 20-something version of Batman sidekick Robin, that may
air on TNT. For the channels Syfy and WGN, respectively, the studio
is developing shows based on the more mature comics "DMZ" and
"Scalped."
The need to win audiences beyond core fanboys and fangirls is
one reason why few of TV's new crop of characters wear capes or
tights. Viewers who don't know a Dark Knight from a Caped Crusader
might reflexively write off a show that features superpowers.
Bruno Heller, an executive producer of "Gotham," says, "You're
dealing with a huge property, in corporate terms, and it demands to
be seen by the largest possible audience. This is a stadium rock
show, not a cabaret act."
Indeed, the biggest rock star--Batman--doesn't actually appear
in "Gotham." He's essentially too big for the small screen, with
the guardians of DC and Warner Bros. holding his blockbuster power
in reserve for coming films like " Batman v Superman: Dawn of
Justice."
"Gotham" starts with the murder of Bruce Wayne's parents, the
tragedy that puts the wealthy heir on his path toward Dark
Knight-hood. However, the lead character is the one investigating
the murder, Det. James Gordon, who deals with characters destined
to become Catwoman and the Riddler. These proto-villains include
Oswald Cobblepot (Robin Lord Taylor), a sly and sadistic crime
underling who people say resembles a penguin.
During the development of "Gotham," the show's creators selected
the Penguin (played in the past by Burgess Meredith and Danny
DeVito) in part because the villain's origin story in comic books
is somewhat murky, unlike, say, the Joker's fall into a vat of
chemicals.
"What's the moment that the Penguin became this big crime lord?
There's no answer, at least no answer people can agree on. That's
an opportunity to run with it and create a great character," says
Geoff Johns, the DC creative chief.
The 41-year-old executive shepherds all of DC's development
projects, including movies, videogames and merchandise. He has a
direct hand in each of the current TV adaptations, working with the
producers who run the shows day to day. He helps craft story lines
and serves as a sort of casting director for DC's myriad
characters.
A native of Detroit who has been collecting comic books since
age 8, Mr. Johns got his show-business break as an intern to
Richard Donner after cold-calling the "Superman" director's office.
At DC, he rose as a writer of comic book series including "The
Flash," earning readers' respect for his expertise in deep comics
mythology and his fresh take on seemingly lesser characters.
Covering a window of Mr. John's office at DC's headquarters in
Burbank, Calif., is an image of his favorite character, Captain
Cold, a nemesis of the Flash. Though swaddled in a parka and
packing freeze guns, he's not your stereotypical supervillain: He
has a moral code and demands that the villains he leads stay off
drugs.
"I always thought he was so much more complex than people gave
him credit for," Mr. Johns says. "He's symbolic of the potential
that can be unlocked from all these characters. "
The Captain Cold drawing also serves as a litmus test for
visitors to Mr. Johns's office, some of whom inevitably confuse him
with Mr. Freeze, a villain once portrayed by a blue-tinted Arnold
Schwarzenegger.
"If anyone calls him Mr. Freeze, I know they're not a real fan,"
said Mr. Johns, who is also a co-owner of two L.A.-area comics
shops.
"I can't tell you how many meetings I've been in with television
and film executives who want to jump on the bandwagon but have
absolutely no concept of why a character is interesting or not,"
says David Goyer, a go-to writer for superhero films, including
Christopher Nolan's trilogy of Batman movies. "Geoff is not a poser
trying to get up to speed."
The two men have been friends since the late '90s and they
co-wrote a comic book series for DC, Justice Society of America.
Mr. Johns organized a bachelor party for his friend last year,
around the time he helped recruit Mr. Goyer for a network TV show.
Given his pick of the DC Comics universe, Mr. Goyer chose John
Constantine, the star of more than 300 issues of the "Hellblazer"
comic. He's a sardonic master of the occult who carries his own
share of psychological demons.
With Mr. Johns, he made a list for NBC of a half-dozen things
essential to a Constantine show, including an actor who is British.
"It's almost like an honor pledge. Do you agree with these things?
If not, let's not go down this path," Mr. Goyer says.
The comics invasion is already in full swing on the CW. Entering
season three, "Arrow" follows billionaire Oliver Queen, who emerged
as a bow-and-arrow wielding vigilante after a five-year fight for
survival on an island. "Arrow" has become the CW's biggest hit and
helped the network win back some of the male viewers it lost after
the 2011 finale of "Smallville," a successful Superman prequel that
thrived for 10 seasons.
"Having 'Arrow' come to our network was the beginning of seeing
the audience balance out," says CW President Mark Pedowitz.
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"Arrow" also served as a slingshot for "The Flash." Last season,
actor Grant Gustin appeared on the show in two episodes as Barry
Allen, a crime scene investigator who gets zapped when a particle
accelerator goes flooey. Mr. Pedowitz says the audience's strong
reaction to the character, especially on social media, led the CW
to order a show that would unabashedly embrace superpowers. This
was a big deal, given the "no tights, no flights" rule that long
governed the network's "Smallville," which was intended to keep
young Clark Kent grounded.
The average "Flash" episode features 250 visual effects shots
(about 10 times the amount on "Arrow"). The hero's every
hyper-speed move has to be rendered by the effects team, as do the
"meta-human" enemies he confronts, including one who turns into a
cloud of poison vapor, the Mist.
"As a television show we have an advantage--characters can
grow--but there's just a level of expectation about what these
things look like now. You have to be on that level [of feature
films] if you want to play in the game," says executive producer
Andrew Kreisberg, who also helps oversee "Arrow."
In the pilot episode, the bursts of super speed by Flash
alter-ego Barry Allen were simulated using stuntmen. But now he's
computer-generated. That gives the effects team a figure unhindered
by gravity, and Mr. Gustin, the actor, spends less time suspended
from wires in front of a green screen.
Yet producers know the series will live or die on their handling
of the human character that has endured since 1956, when Barry
Allen first appeared in print. He is haunted by his past--his
mother was mysteriously killed when he was 11 years old---as he
struggles to deal with the superpower he has been given.
"Here's a guy who can be everywhere at once, but yet he feels
like he's never all the places he needs to be. He knows he could
save 110 people more a day if he just worked harder," says Greg
Berlanti, an executive producer of "Arrow" and "The Flash."
The Flash has streaked across TV screens before, in 1990, when a
CBS series ran for one season. The show was saddled with
geek-averse network executives and brutal time-slot competition
from "The Cosby Show" and "The Simpsons."
Yet comics fans ate it up, including Mr. Johns, then a senior in
high school. On the new "Flash," the only DC show he currently
writes scripts for, Mr. Johns is now responsible for the superhero
and his accompanying rogues gallery--including Captain Cold, who
will appear in episode four.
Write to John Jurgensen at john.jurgensen@wsj.com
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