Marvel’s Inhumans to start TV series with IMAX premiere

Marvel will be pushing with "The Inhumans" after all, albeit in an interesting way. Initially planned as a feature film, "Black Bolt" and his royal family will be having their own TV series, with the first episodes to have a special screening.

Through a deal with ABC and IMAX, Marvel (or to be specific, Marvel Television) will produce the series that will air on ABC and will utilize IMAX cameras for filming. Scheduled for a fall 2017 release, the first two episodes will have a two-week run on IMAX theatres worldwide in the summer of the same year.

The succeeding episodes will then air on ABC, along with the edited version of the first two, in typical hour-long serial format. The show is planned to be an action-adventure set on the modern time, with a dash of humor Marvel is known for. Some of its scenes may take place in the moon as well. Variety notes that as no writer or director has been signed for the project yet.

This comes as a response to the success of "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.", which also under ABC. And while several Inhumans have graced the show, it will not be a spinoff of the series. According to the New York Times, the network wants to emulate the quality of Marvel titles on IMAX, particularly "Daredevil" and "Luke Cage".  Rich Gelfond, IMAX CEO, refers to this project as taking their relationship with Walt Disney (the parent company of Marvel) "to the next level".

The Inhumans first appeared on Fantastic Four #45 on December 1965. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the stories usually focus on the Inhuman Royal Family, super-powered individuals which include Black Bolt, Medusa and Lockjaw among others.

With the technology of IMAX, ABC's broad range and accessibility and Marvel's attention-grabbing characters and storytelling, this seems to be a triple threat that would revolutionize the serials as it is.