Over the past few decades, many Marvel Comics characters have been making the jump from the page to the screen. Whether it be in a theater near you or on your TV set (or wherever you watch your shows these days), we’ve seen the likes of Captain America, Daredevil, Spider-Man, Scarlet Witch, Luke Cage, and even Howard the Duck pop up in some sort of live-action production. And in addition to the big name superheroes of the House of Ideas getting the spotlight, the stars of their creator-owned imprint Icon Comics have seen their fair share of success in that world as well. ‘Kick-Ass’ and ‘Kingsman: The Secret Service’ are both based on acclaimed comic titles from Mark Millar that fall under that publishing banner. Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming’s ‘Powers’, the first original series on the Playstation Network, also hails from that line. And now, it looks like a fourth property from that brand is screen-bound in the near future.
According to Deadline, Marvel/Icon series ‘Scarlet’ is currently in development as a series at Cinemax. Bendis, who created the comic with artist Alex Maleev back in 2010, appeared at the ATX Television Festival in Austin, Texas over the weekend to make the announcement. And though he got the network wrong while talking about the project, his excitement for Scarlet Rue’s journey to television could definitely be felt:
“I do a book called ‘Scarlet’ which is soon to be announced also in our universe of television. Not announced yet, but HBO. The team around it…will be announced as soon as all are on the same page.”
Despite the long-time Marvel writer needing to find that page too, Bendis did note that everything is still “at the earliest stage”. But regardless of where they are in the developmental process right now, it sounds like the story of the rebellious young girl from Portland that sparks the second American Revolution will retain it’s Punisher-esque level of violence and controversial subject matter:
“‘Scarlet’ is a list of things you can’t get made. Here’s a female lead who’s killing cops because her world is broken. [But] when it was sold, it was sold to people who were actively looking for that, so that put us in a good place. So stay tuned.”
With ‘Scarlet’ in the pipeline, this marks the third live-action television series based on Bendis’ work. In addition to the previously mentioned ‘Powers’, he also wrote the Marvel MAX comic ‘Alias’, which became the basis for ‘Jessica Jones’ on Netflix starring Krysten Ritter. As for Cinemax, they look to be happy with their adaptation of Robert Kirkman’s ‘Outcast’, so they are probably looking for that same level of success with a similar property from an equally prolific comic creator.
What do you think about a live-action ‘Scarlet’ series coming to Cinemax? Do you think that it will be a good fit on that channel? And do you have any early picks for actresses to play the titular character? Share your thoughts and theories in the comments below.
Despite being a “professional writer”, Ben likes run-on sentences far too much. For more of his attempts at being funny and the occasional insightful thought, follow him on Twitter and Instagram.
