Superhero prequel shows

[Immortalfire]

So far we've had Smallville, Gotham, and now with Krypton coming and word of a Metropolis show in the works too...Anyone recall the rumors of The Graysons? About Dick and his flying acrobatic family.

That concept never went anywhere, thankfully

Anyhow, I got to thinking about what other back story shows could be floating around in some brains out there. So let's hear them, ridiculous or serious.

DAILY PLANET
This show is about the adventures of Perry White. He begins as a humble copy boy, and over a twenty five season run he makes is rise to editor of the great metropolitan newspaper. The final episode closes with a young man named Clark Kent arriving for a job interview.

THE PARKERS
Featuring a young Ben Parker and his brother Richard, we delve into the not so thrilling lives of the Parker family. Over time we meet Richard's future wife Mary, as well as May Reilly. Richard and Mary get involved in mysterious stuff, Ben does not. Final episode gets into how Rich and Mary have died in a plane crash, and their 6 year old son Peter arrives to live with Ben and May.

BATTLIN' JACK
Doing its best to rip-off ROCKY, this show features Jack Murdock as a struggling boxer, who meets Maggie. They marry and she bears a son, they name him Matthew. A lot of mob and boxing drama is thrown in.

 

[Breogan]

The Pre-GL-Corps Adventures of:
Young Hal Jordan; Coast City Surfer and Adrenaline-Junkie t:

Of course Clark is faking... and actually lands the plane.

Later...
https://i.imgur.com/UCY1jS8.jpg?1[/IMG
[IMG]https://i.imgur.com/vTKK8PW.jpg?1

Later...

 

[SV Fan]

Not sure if it was prequel or not but their was an Aquaman pilot that didn't go past the pilot stage like 10 years ago(produced by the guys from Smallville and staring the who would go on to be Green Arrow in Smallville)

 

[FunkMiller]

Bat

The adventures of Barry The Bat, who spends seven seasons getting into lots of fun scrapes with all his friends, before accidentally flying into a window at Wayne Manor.

 

[Ozbridge]

I don't read comics so I don't know if there's material to be drawn from, but I think a Wonder Woman prequel show about the Amazons fighting villains in Themyscira could be cool.

 

[Breogan]

Bat

The adventures of Barry The Bat, who spends seven seasons getting into lots of fun scrapes with all his friends, before accidentally flying into a window at Wayne Manor.

LOL^, so long as Marvel also gives us the misadventures of Webster the radioctive spider, before he bit Parker.

 

[RomanticPenguin]

Themyscira could legit work

DC is probably developing it to some degree after WW's success

 

[Wyrminarrd]

I´m just waiting for them to take this to the next level and make a Gotham prequel series about Alfred and his days in the military before he became a butler

 

[Immortalfire]

I´m just waiting for them to take this to the next level and make a Gotham prequel series about Alfred and his days in the military before he became a butler

That was going to be my next guess

 

[Fincher]

I feel like the prequel idea is more interesting if it's a matter of watching things develop into the thing you know. Like, the episodes of Gotham I watched were entertaining enough, but it would have held my interest better if it started off as a normal town and, through the actions of the characters we follow, became the eventual freakshow. Instead, pretty much right away it's like, oh, here's a themed vigilante, and over here's some superpowered characters. You get to watch The Riddler become The Riddler, etc., but it didn't prove enough for me as it was.

Barring being a well enough executed show that you don't need to depend on the source material it's leading to, you need a compelling enough hero/mythos and the ability to build toward that in a way that works. I feel like they've already used up their best ideas in this regard with Smallville and Gotham. The other DC heroes, cool as they might be, don't really have enough cultural reference points to pull it off.

I was more interested in Krypton when it looked like its own tangentially related space opera than when they brought in Adam Strange and said it was about making sure Superman comes to be. I haven't given up on it, but it needs to stand on its own. It can't function by constantly teasing Superman without Superman being there. Simply being superhero-adjacent isn't compelling.

So I think the serious answer would be shows that sound like good shows in their own right rather than shows that are attached to popular characters.

 

[Gabe99]

VARIETY SEPTEMBER 30, 2008:
CW’s ‘Graysons’ takes flier on Robin

Holy prequel, Boy Wonder, the CW is prepping a series based on Batman sidekick Robin’s pre-Caped Crusader days.

“Smallville” exec producers Kelly Souders and Brian Peterson, as well as “Supernatural” exec producer McG, are behind “The Graysons,” which has landed a put pilot commitment at the netlet.

Just as “Smallville” focused on Clark Kent in the years before he became Superman, “The Graysons” will follow the world of Dick “DJ” Grayson before he takes on the iconic Robin identity and aligns himself with Batman.

Project reps the latest DC Comics franchise to be mined for the smallscreen by sibling Warner Bros. TV. McG’s Wonderland Sound and Vision label is also attached.

Souders, Peterson, McG and Wonderland’s Peter Johnson will exec produce.

“The Graysons” is seen as a potential replacement for “Smallville” should that show end its run this season, which has been speculated. Should “Smallville” return next year, “The Graysons” might also make a strong companion piece.

CW insiders said they also see the “Graysons” development as a validating gesture by Warner Bros. that the company is still behind its 50% investment in the netlet, particularly following this fall’s strong openings for “Gossip Girl” and newbie “90210.” They believe the studio wouldn’t risk bringing one of its prized franchises to CW if it believed the net was in dire straits.

In the one-hour “Graysons,” which will be set in modern times, young DJ will face challenges involving first loves, young rivals and his family as he grows up. Souders and Peterson have come up with an original take on the character.

In the original Batman mythology, Grayson was a young acrobat and part of the family act called “The Flying Graysons.” He was orphaned when a gangster sabotaged his parents’ trapeze equipment. Bruce Wayne took him under his wing and trained him to help fight crime.

Grayson later morphed into the character of Nightwing, as part of “The New Teen Titans,” and a series of new Robin replacements were introduced.

Souders and Peterson serve as showrunners (along with Todd Slavkin and Darren Swimmer) on “Smallville,” which has just entered its eighth season. They’ve been with the hit drama since season two, and helped successfully transition the show following the departure of longtime toppers Miles Millar and Al Gough.

In features, Peterson wrote “But I’m a Cheerleader,” while Souders was behind “Tell Me.”

McG’s credits also include NBC’s “Chuck” and the upcoming feature “Terminator Salvation.” “The Graysons” reps McG’s second DC Comics sale this year: Wonderland is also behind the Fox project “Human Target,” which Jon Steinberg is writing.

CW predecessor the WB tackled the Batman mythology with 2002’s short-lived “Birds of Prey,” which followed a group of female superheroes who flew in to protect Gotham after Batman disappeared.

Burt Ward, of course, played Dick Grayson/Robin in the campy 1965-68 TV series “Batman.” And several animated versions of the Batman story have appeared on the smallscreen through the years, most recently KidsWB’s “The Batman.”

Bob Kane created the DC Comics characters.

 

[Immortalfire]

Lawl

 

[Milk Tray Guy]

I´m just waiting for them to take this to the next level and make a Gotham prequel series about Alfred and his days in the military before he became a butler

Yep, I can see it in the listings now...

Pennyworth!!

 

[Immortalfire]

Here's one; Dr. Wayne

The series follows young Thomas Wayne in his early days of medical work. He meets and marries Martha, while facing the every day struggles of medical practice and the operation of his family businesses.

Final episode is him arriving at the hospital, where he sees his newborn son Bruce.

 

[Teelie]

These prequels... ugh. I really tried to like Gotham and it started okay but then it quickly became a dance around doing anything really interesting because it cause continuity errors. All of the rest are going to similarly dance around anything truly different or new because it was never referenced or heard of in the "current" time of whatever character it prequels.

 

[Milk Tray Guy]

Bat

The adventures of Barry The Bat, who spends seven seasons getting into lots of fun scrapes with all his friends, before accidentally flying into a window at Wayne Manor.

And if we're going New 52 we can then move onto the adventures of Ollie, the owl who snatched him from the sky after he hit the window. And we have a shared universe!

These prequels... ugh. I really tried to like Gotham and it started okay...

Ditto. I stuck with Gotham through the first season but that was it for me.

 

[Teelie]

I think I held onto Gotham until season 3 when I realized it was going to continue to disappoint me then I moved on. Now they are playing around with the proto-Joker character which feels like it underminds the actual Joker, making him an imitation of someone else and giving him a pseudo-backstory that does not sit right.

 

[Milk Tray Guy]

The words 'Mooney' and 'Fish' heavily influenced my decision to call it a day

 

[superhero]

does any one watch Arrow? then there's super girl the flash & dc ledgens of tomorrow!! then now they got black lighting!!

 

[Teelie]

I watch all of those but they are not prequel series. At best they all started as origins for the heroes in them in the first episode, not stories told before they became who they are for an entire series.

 

[fan4stic]

These prequels... ugh. I really tried to like Gotham and it started okay but then it quickly became a dance around doing anything really interesting because it cause continuity errors. All of the rest are going to similarly dance around anything truly different or new because it was never referenced or heard of in the "current" time of whatever character it prequels.

I don't know how long you watched, but after s1 that's basically the opposite of what happened. Hugo Strange genetically manufacturing monsters, Ra's Al Ghul attacking the city, Nygma becoming the Riddler and framing Gordon and having him put in prison, Mad Hatter coming in using his sister Alice's blood to make people crazy, the Order of St. Dumas trying to kill Bruce, Azrael.

 

[Immortalfire]

I´m just waiting for them to take this to the next level and make a Gotham prequel series about Alfred and his days in the military before he became a butler

You Called it

http://www.superherohype.com/news/416575-pennyworth-batman-prequel-series-set-at-epix

 

[Milk Tray Guy]

I´m just waiting for them to take this to the next level and make a Gotham prequel series about Alfred and his days in the military before he became a butler

Yep, I can see it in the listings now...

Pennyworth!!

Think they might have read this thread?

 

[Immortalfire]

If they did, then it is only a matter of time until Bat gets going.

Bat

The adventures of Barry The Bat, who spends seven seasons getting into lots of fun scrapes with all his friends, before accidentally flying into a window at Wayne Manor.

 

[Milk Tray Guy]