Disney to Bring Live-Action Marvel Show to ABC
posted Sunday Jul 29, 2012 by Scott Ertz
Since Disney picked up Marvel 3 years ago, there has not been a lot of Disney involvement in the comic company. Until recently, Marvel has been run as it always has been, being left alone by the parent company. With the recent successes of the live-action films, however, Disney cannot leave money on the table and has started discussions to bring a live-action Marvel series to Disney-owned network ABC.
According to reports from Deadline, a television series based in the movie universe has already begun its life, described as "a kernel of an idea." What we know is that it will revolve around the Avengers aspects of the universe, but will probably not involve any of the main characters from the movies. What it could involve, however, are some of the lesser movie characters, such as Jasper Sitwell, whose movie actor could reprise his role to connect the two stories.
We could also see the series take on the role of launching characters who could be in the future Avengers films, such as Ant-Man (a founding member so far ignored), Captain Britain, Marvel Boy or any other of the many members over the years. Such a connection between the movies and TV show could be dangerous, and certainly difficult, with the incredibly narrow timeline so far presented across all of the films, with Iron Man 2 taking place during the events of The Incredible Hulk. It would mean the movies would have to live in a wider timeline, meaning a lot of events between movies would not be covered, or the show would somehow have to exist within an incredibly narrow timeline.
The other possibility, of course, is that everything takes place in the current universe, but decades earlier. It would certainly allow them to have the existing characters without having to convince Robert Downey, Jr. to appear on television from time to time. As has been said, the series is in very early talks, so these details will be hammered out over probably the next 10-18 months before anything ever comes to television.