Marvel, ABC prep TV return for "Incredible Hulk"
By Borys Kit and James Hibberd
Who's ready for another Hulk TV series?
As DC Comics heroine Wonder Woman, who had a TV series during the 1970s, is being prepped for a return to the small screen, Marvel and ABC are developing a TV return for the Incredible Hulk. CBS produced a memorable series featuring the jade giant that ran from 1978-82 and starred Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno.
At the end of the decade, ABC followed up with three TV movies that featured incarnations of Marvel heroes Daredevil and Thor.
"Hulk" is one of two projects that are priorities at Marvel Television, Marvel Studio's TV division, which has been operating under the radar since Jeph Loeb took the reins at the end of June. The second hot property is "Cloak and Dagger," which is being developed as a possible show for ABC Family.
Both are in the early stages of development; "Hulk" has a "showrunner wanted" placard around its neck; meanwhile, Loeb is meeting with writers to hear ideas for "Cloak and Dagger."
Marvel began narrowing its list of possible TV adaptations in May with a presentation on the Disney lot. Executives presented ABC suits with a list of titles they identified as possible series:
"Heroes for Hire" (focusing on ex-con Luke Cage offering to take on bad guys for a price);
"The Eternals" (a race of superpowered beings live amid humanity in secret, inspiring legends);
"Agents of Atlas, Alter Ego" (private investigator Jessica Jones takes on cases involving superhumans);
"Moon Knight, the Red Hood" (a low-rent criminal discovers a cloak that gives him superpowers);
"Ka-Zar" (a Tarzan-type and his saber-toothed tiger must journey to the concrete jungle to seek justice);
"Daughters of the Dragon" (a dynamic female duo, one with a bionic arm and the other a granddaughter of a samurai, open a private-detective agency); and
"The Punisher" (one man wages a war on crime; already adapted as two feature films).
"Cloak and Dagger" wasn't on the list. "Hulk" was.
Although the focus appears to be on "Hulk" and "Cloak and Dagger," "Punisher" also has been selected from the herd and is eyed as a cable entry, but that is even further away. Marvel's TV division wants to take things slow, according to insiders, focusing on one or two shows, making sure they are the best they can be and establishing a quality brand before moving forward.
Marvel is in the middle of establishing a shared universe among its movies (the plots and characters form one big story), but it's unknown whether the studio will undertake a similar path with TV. Also unknown is whether there would be a connection between the film world and TV world.
