Brian Michael Bendis is responsible for some of the best new characters of the last 25 years. Among them are Miles Morales and Jessica Jones. He's also the reason Luke Cage became the leader of the Avengers after being a bad character for decades. Bendis may be recognized as one of the premier writers for Daredevil, having written the character for close to (if not over) 100 single issues. You can see a lot of his influence in both the Netflix and Disney+ series.
Besides the characters mentioned, Bendis has written stories about Superman, Naomi, Young Justice, and so many more. However, if there’s one comic book of his that I’d recommend over them all, it’s Powers by himself and artist Michael Avon Oeming. It’s so good that it’s an adult animated show, and it’s about time.
The Hollywood Reporter announced that, Netflix is developing an adult animated series adaptation of the long-running comic, with Dark Horse Entertainment‘s Keith Goldberg and Chris Tongue executive producing. The article gives more good news, saying, “The two creators are involved in the development. Bendis is said to be writing the pilot while Oeming is participating in the visual development for the show.”
This won’t be the first time Powers has leaped from the comics to another platform. It was a live-action show on PlayStation’s short-lived network, and it starred Sharlto Copley as Christian Walker and Susan Heyward as Deena Pilgrim. The reason the show only went twenty episodes is due to the streaming service it was on, and because it was live-action. A project like this needs a bigger platform, budget, and should definitely be animated. And as much as I’m pumped for Powers (it’s in my top favorite series of all time), I have one major concern: it’s on Netflix.
Like many people, this writer has Netflix. It’s one of the premier streaming services on the planet, and its success is the reason why HBO Max, Prime Video, and Hulu exist. Sadly, as popular as it is (or once was), it’s developed a reputation for canceling shows, whether they’re popular or not. Among them are Kaos, Sense8, and Warrior Nun. The latter received such bad press that it was renewed after the cancellation. However, Locke and Key did well despite moving far away from the comic's darker tone.
This writer has been critical of how Netflix has handled superhero shows in the past, but will be less so in the future. Besides Powers, another project this writer is looking forward to is Assassin’s Creed and the K-Pop: Demon Hunters sequel. That could mean Netflix is looking to the future of its platform, and it is action-oriented projects with depth.
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