Back in August, DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. announced that they would be venturing into the more comedic side of the DC Universe with ‘Powerless’ on NBC. Described as ‘The Office’ but with superheroes, the half-hour single-camera comedy comes from ‘A to Z’ creator Ben Queen and will explore “the reality of working life for a normal, powerless person in a world of superheroes and villains”. At the time, I said that it sounded a bit like Marvel Comics’ Damage Control, the construction company that specializes in cleaning up the messes made by superheroes and supervillains. Well, hopefully there will be a lot of differences because that team is actually making their debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in a half-hour single-camera series of their own.
The House of Ideas has found much success with one-hour television dramas thanks to ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ and ‘Agent Carter’ on ABC and ‘Daredevil’ on Netflix. And though they’ve never really stayed away from comedic moments, Marvel is now exploring comedy in full force by working on it’s first sitcom. According to Deadline, former ‘Daily Show’ and ‘Colbert Report’ executive producer Ben Karlin is developing ‘Damage Control’ for ABC, who has already granted the show a pilot commitment. Spawning from his overall deal with ABC Studios, Karlin (who has also written for ‘Space Ghost Coast to Coast’ and ‘Modern Family’) will pen the script for the first episode and will executive produce alongside Marvel Television’s Jeph Loeb and 3 Arts’ David Miner. Here’s the description provided by the outlet for the show:
‘Damage Control’ follows the overworked, underpaid, clean up crew of the Marvel Universe. Specializing in dealing with the aftermath of the unique fallout from superhero conflicts, they’re the ones who are in charge of returning lost ray guns to their rightful owners, help to reschedule a wedding venue after it has been vaporized in a superhero battle, or even track down a missing prize African parrot that’s been turned to stone or goo.
Created in 1988 by Dwayne McDuffie and Ernie Colon, Damage Control was initially pitched as “a sitcom within the Marvel Universe’, so this show is totally a no-brainer. I could definitely see the pilot being set after the events of ‘Captain America: Civil War’ and then it would tie in with ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ since that organization granted Damage Control Director Ann-Marie Hoag a loan so that she could own the company. It’s fun to imagine Clark Gregg guest starring as Director Phil Coulson to get the elderly Ms. Hoag set up at the Flatiron Building. Plus, popular characters like Speedball, Eric O’Grady (the third Ant-Man), and Hercules are all connected to Damage Control, so maybe we’ll get to see their introductions as well as other lesser-known-but-still-awesome characters from the comics like Squirrel Girl or the Superior Foes.
What do you think of Marvel Television developing ‘Damage Control’ for ABC? Are you excited to see a sitcom in the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Let us know in the comments below.
