Even as ABC’s Marvel Cinematic Universe TV series “Agents of SHIELD” winds down into a tense finale for season 4’s third “pod,” the network and Marvel Television are prepping to make an epic big-screen opening to their next show set in the MCU, “Marvel’s Inhumans.” Their collaboration with IMAX will see the show premiere its first two episodes on IMAX theaters on September 1, running for two weeks before kicking off at ABC itself in the fall.
After a lull of now, additional news aside from casting and social media photos of the series shooting, the producers of “Inhumans” have finally revealed their biggest bit of info yet by showcasing the cast in costume for a group shot, along with additional info from showrunner Scott Buck.
Superhuman royal family
Courtesy of “Entertainment Weekly,” a publicity photo was teased online showing the principal characters who serve as the ruling family of the Inhuman race, a secret society of super-humans that have held aloof from the outside world until now. Certain humans in today’s society as depicted in the MCU (and “Agents of SHIELD” particularly) have Inhuman ancestry, which enables them to gain superpowers when exposed to the extraterrestrial Terrigen substance.
The group shot depicts Black Bolt (Anson Mount), reigning king of the Inhumans, along with his court: his wife Queen Medusa (Serinda Swan), sister-in-law Princess Crystal (Isabelle Cornish), cousin and advisor Karnak (Ken Leung), other cousin and general Gorgon (Eme Ikwuakor), and finally his younger brother the conniving Maximus (Iwan Rheon).
Between two worlds
Executive producer Scott Buck, who worked on later seasons of “Dexter” as well as the Marvel Netflix series “Iron Fist,” has revealed that the story of the Inhumans will be told alternatively between their hidden homeland of Attilan and Earth. In the MCU, multitudes of people throughout the world who have Inhuman ancestry have also gained their powers, as featured in fellow ABC show “Agents of SHIELD,” though Buck would rather not call “Inhumans” a spinoff show, as it’s more a super-powered family drama than an action procedural.
Also addressed by Buck is the mandatory use of CGI in order to depict Inhuman abilities. Serinda Swan’s red hair in the photo is rendered with CGI in the show, as befits her character Medusa’s power of prehensile hair. Another CGI element that Buck believes audiences will love is the supporting character, a giant dog named Lockjaw who will also be in CGI.
Marvel and ABC hope to have “Inhumans” make its TV premiere by September 26.
