Jana B., Here…

The Superhero business is a big money maker and anything associated with Marvel Comics is getting snatched up as quickly as if Speed Demon were picking up a littered yard. The geek-friendly brand has just closed a deal with media giant, Netflix, to produce at least four 13-episode series that will lead up to a miniseries of The Defenders.

There are four heroes at the center of this deal. Daredevil is Matt Murdock, the blind lawyer from Hell’s Kitchen, has amazing hearing that gives him a sort of  facial vision called human echolocation, which is very related to sonar. We’ve seen a so-so performance of DD on the big screen by Ben Affleck. Next Affleck dons the Bat suit and we can only hope he gives a little more believable performance there. Back to the small screen DD and we have no rumors of who is set to play the acrobatic attorney. For my money, I keep knocking around the idea of Tom Welling. I know, I know he already gave us an awesome Superman/Clark Kent performance in Smallville. But he’s proven he can handle the action necessary of a superhero, plus he’s a friendly face to the small screen. Another small screen king that I think could pull off the red leather of Daredevil is Supernatural’s own Misha Collins. He can handle the required action sequences and could provide a bit of levity that all shows require in one form or another. When talking about DD, I have to wonder if Kevin Smith is going to offer up any writing help for this character as he’s one of the current writers of the comic books. I want to know if we’re going to see a small screen version of Bullseye, Elektra, Kingpin…there’s just too much to rouse my curiosity and this info hasn’t been released, yet.

Jessica Jones, a.k.a. Jewel and currently known as Power Woman is the only female superhero set to be featured. She had a giant crush on Peter Parker and was present when he was bitten by the titular spider that forever changed his stars. During a bout of her being mind-controlled by the Purple Man she was sent to kill Daredevil. She snapped out of the control Purple Man had over her and ended her costumed crime fighting life. She became a licensed private investigator. I would LOVE to see Jewel Staite take on the role of Jessica Jones. If for no other reason, I want to see her in another series I’m going to love, like Firefly.

Luke Cage a.k.a. Power Man, was a brawler that ended up in prison and being experimented on. One such experiment went awry granting his superhuman abilities. He was first a Hero for Hire, with J.  Jonah Jameson of the Daily Bugle hiring him to bring him Spider-Man. Then he wound his way into the superhero factions replacing Thing for a short bit in the Fantastic Four. Jessica Jones and Luke Cage are working together as a body guard for Matt Murdock at one point that leads to a personal relationship. I see a Vin Diesel type of actor working out well for Luke Cage.

Iron Fist a.k.a. Danny Rand is a master martial artist that was shamed by being banished to earth by his father. He won the power of the Iron Fist at 19. He joined the Heroes for Hire and became best friends with Luke Cage. Rand becomes Daredevil during Matt Murdock’s incarceration. I can’t think of anyone other than Ray Park to take on the demanding martial arts sequences that the role of Iron Fist should be full of.

“This deal is unparalleled in its scope and size, and reinforces our commitment to deliver Marvel’s brand, content and characters across all platforms of storytelling. Netflix offers an incredible platform for the kind of rich storytelling that is Marvel’s specialty,” said Alan Fine, President of Marvel Entertainment. “This serialized epic expands the narrative possibilities of on-demand television and gives fans the flexibility to immerse themselves how and when they want in what’s sure to be a thrilling and engaging adventure.”

“Marvel’s movies, such as ‘Iron Man’ and Marvel’s ‘The Avengers’, are huge favorites on our service around the world. Like Disney, Marvel is a known and loved brand that travels,” said Netflix Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos. “With ‘House of Cards’ and our other original series, we have pioneered new approaches to storytelling and to global distribution and we’re thrilled to be working with Disney and Marvel to take our brand of television to new levels with a creative project of this magnitude.”

There are so many ways these 60 episodes can go. With the cross references to current Marvel film heroes, who knows what kind of hidden nods will be related to these series. One thing that is for sure is we have to wait until 2015 to find out.

The official press release below:

BURBANK, Calif., Nov. 7, 2013  – The Walt Disney Co. (Marvel is a known and loved brand that travels,” sNYSE: DIS) and Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) today announced an unprecedented deal for Marvel TV to bring multiple original series of live-action adventures of four of Marvel’s most popular characters exclusively to the world’s leading Internet TV Network beginning in 2015. This pioneering agreement calls for Marvel to develop four serialized programs leading to a miniseries programming event.

Led by a series focused on “Daredevil,” followed by “Jessica Jones,” “Iron Fist” and “Luke Cage,” the epic will unfold over multiple years of original programming, taking Netflix members deep into the gritty world of heroes and villains of Hell’s Kitchen, New York. Netflix has committed to a minimum of four, thirteen episodes series and a culminating Marvel’s “The Defenders” mini-series event that reimagines a dream team of self-sacrificing, heroic characters.

Produced by Marvel Television in association with ABC Television Studios, this groundbreaking deal is Marvel’s most ambitious foray yet into live-action TV storytelling.

“This deal is unparalleled in its scope and size, and reinforces our commitment to deliver Marvel’s brand, content and characters across all platforms of storytelling. Netflix offers an incredible platform for the kind of rich storytelling that is Marvel’s specialty,” said Alan Fine, President of Marvel Entertainment. “This serialized epic expands the narrative possibilities of on-demand television and gives fans the flexibility to immerse themselves how and when they want in what’s sure to be a thrilling and engaging adventure.”

“Marvel’s movies, such as ‘Iron Man’ and Marvel’s ‘The Avengers’, are huge favorites on our service around the world. Like Disney, Marvel is a known and loved brand that travels,” said Netflix Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos. “With ‘House of Cards’ and our other original series, we have pioneered new approaches to storytelling and to global distribution and we’re thrilled to be working with Disney and Marvel to take our brand of television to new levels with a creative project of this magnitude.”

This new original TV deal follows last year’s landmark movie distribution deal through which, beginning with 2016 theatrically released feature films, Netflix will be the exclusive U.S. subscription television service for first-run, live-action and animated movies from the Walt Disney Studios, including titles from Disney, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar Animation Studios, Marvel Studios, Disneynature and Lucasfilm. Netflix members can currently enjoy a wide range of Disney, ABC TV and Disney Channel films and shows across the 41 countries where Netflix operates.