When "Marvel's The Punisher" debuted on Netflix last month, it was greeted with great interest and high anticipation.
This image released by Netflix shows Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle in "Marvel's The Punisher," one of the many series based on comic books, currently streaming on Netflix. (Jessica Miglio/Netflix via AP)
But it arrived as just one of many comic-book adaptations. "The Punisher" is only the latest in a flood now comprising some 28 shows across nine broadcast, cable and streaming platforms, with no end in sight.
Granted, all comic-book shows aren't created equal.
AMC's "The Walking Dead," beset by zombies, differs markedly from the teen adventures of Archie Andrews on the CW's "Riverdale" and from Amazon's superhero spoof "The Tick."
But the majority exists within either of two expansive brands, not dissimilar to Pepsi and Coke.
One is DC, which (with the midseason arrival of "Black Lightning" on the CW) will be represented by nine shows on three networks. The other is Marvel with 13 shows arrayed on six outlets, chiefly Netflix, which currently hosts a half-dozen of its own.
That all adds up to more spandex get-ups than you'd find in an aerobics class. But before concluding that superheroes have taken over the small screen, it's worth noting a few things.
First, TV has always chased trends. Think: cop shows, doctor shows, lawyer shows. Way back in Fall 1959, more than two dozen Westerns were airing on just three broadcast networks. That would dwarf the current slate of comic book shows as a percentage of the 500-odd scripted original prime-time series airing in 2017.
"Comics-related television series have always been a mainstay of television," says Paul Levinson, professor of communications and media studies at Fordham University. "Now it may seem like they're all over the place. But that's because there's television all over the place."
Even so, an upsurge of comic-based shows the past few years is unmistakable. Consider the CW, where, without "Smallville" after a decade's run, no such shows were in its lineup in Fall 2011. But after a subsequent year-by-year buildup, it will boast seven this season.
Along the way, comics-related movies proliferated, while in October 2010, "The Walking Dead" made clear from its explosive arrival that a comic-book property could be a TV smash.
By then, the CGI (computer graphics imagery) that any superhero show requires had become more sophisticated yet sufficiently affordable for weekly TV productions. Conversely, superhero series were a perfect TV showcase for those ever-more-eye-popping special effects in a way that more realistic cop dramas or sitcoms could never be.
Meanwhile, the launch of more and more channels, especially streaming platforms with their limitless capacity, signaled an ever-escalating need to create content.
"With this extraordinary appetite for source material, decades of comic books offered material just waiting to be plucked," says Robert Thompson, director of Syracuse University's Bleier Center for Television & Popular Culture.
Even better, they're perfectly formatted for turning into TV.
"A comic book is like a TV storyboard: visual dialogue in frames," Thompson says. "It's so perfectly transferable! Comic books make the life of a network development executive really, really easy."
But none of this accounts for the apparently insatiable hunger for these shows with which the audience receives them.
"All of it, one some level, is escapism," explains Brett Rogers, classics professor at the University of Puget Sound. "If I'm watching 'Jessica Jones' for an hour, I'm not dealing with some real thing in my life. But the flip side is that comic-book-inspired shows can be spaces for thinking through some serious questions: 'Jessica Jones' is an opportunity to explore sexual violence and post-traumatic stress disorder.
"The comic book industry famously has had to fight the stigma of being for just for children and idiots," he says. But as gifted "kids and idiots" like Joss Whedon and Kevin Smith came of age and made waves by nurturing a comics ethos across multiple media including TV, comics gained new gravitas, respect and urgency.
"It's now being normalized as shared myth of mainstream culture," Rogers said. "It's a common myth shared between readers and viewers, adolescents and adults, comics and film buffs alike — NOT just kids' culture."
Such shows, like the comics that spawned them, can offer welcome moral clarity in an ever-more-confounding world.
"It's much easier to identify the heroes and villains, the good guys vs. the bad guys, than it is on other television shows," says Levinson. "And, by and large, the good characters and heroes endure and triumph over adversity."
"These characters were created as morality tales. They have a primal appeal, a simple appeal," says Glen Weldon, a panelist on NPR's "Pop Culture Happy Hour" podcast and author of "Superman: The Unauthorized Biography."
"They represent our best selves. We are meant to look at them and strive to be more like them."
And thanks to the internet, the appreciation of these comic-book heroes, whether they exist on the page or the screen, can now be enjoyed as a communal experience.
"In the past, if you grew up a nerd, you thought you were alone," says Weldon. "Now you can go online and find people just like you who share your passion."
How long will this craze last? For more than a half-century, TV's trends have burst on the scene, then flared out and been given up for dead. (How many current TV Westerns can you count?)
But comics-inspired TV may not follow that cycle.
"It may ebb as well as flow," says Thompson, "but I don't think there's any reason to believe that this genre will exhaust itself as others have done, or that viewers will get tired of it. It's such a versatile genre."
Versatile, and with room to grow, he adds, unlike other genres that may have reached their peak. While the police procedural may well have plateaued creatively, "the comic-book genre is still maturing," he says. "We're still seeing it evolve."
The Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell romantic comedy “Anyone But You” hitting Netflix and an album by Brazil superstar Anitta are some of the new television, movies, music and games headed to a device near you.
Also among the streaming offerings worth your time as selected by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists: Everyone’s favorite dancing demon doll “M3GAN” comes back to Peacock, a beautiful woman battles hideous beasts in Sony's video game Stellar Blade, and a documentary detailing Bon Jovi's early days, rise to fame and breakups and breakdowns.
— The Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell romantic comedy “Anyone But You” is finally on Netflix starting Tuesday. The movie is about two young singles whose magical one-night stand ends in miscommunication and hurt feelings, and then find themselves both in a small family wedding party and staying in the same house. It’s loosely based on Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing.” Reviews were mixed and the box office started out tame, but it became a slow burn sleeper hit in theaters, earning more than $218 million worldwide. If you’ve been holding out to see what the fuss was about, now is your low stakes chance (it’s also not a bad plane option, which is where this film critic finally watched it). And afterwards, if you need a rom-com palate cleanser, “You’ve Got Mail” is also currently on Netflix.
— Another stealth box office hit, everyone’s favorite dancing demon doll “M3GAN” is coming back to Peacock starting Wednesday. Is it great cinema? Probably not, but everyone who watches it seems to have a fun time (in spite of themselves). Entertainment Weekly’s Leah Greenblatt wrote in her review that, “This is not the morose, carnage-soaked horror of dank basements and clammy night terrors; most of the movie happens in bright daylight, every maniacal head tilt, ungodly hip swivel, and murder-by-gardening-tool calibrated for screams that end not with a gasp but a giggle. M3GAN came to play, and possibly reboot her motherboard for a sequel. Are you not entertained?”
— Finally, if you’ve exhausted all your “Tortured Poets” analysis, you can pivot to watching a Joe Alwyn movie instead. He stars in Claire Denis’ 2022 romantic thriller “Stars at Noon,” which comes to Hulu on Sunday. Based on the 1986 Denis Johnson novel, Margaret Qualley plans an American journalist in Nicaragua during COVID-19 who starts an affair with a mysterious British guy, played by Alwyn.
— AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr
— Shot through the heart, and they’re to blame: Forty years after a bunch of kids from New Jersey got together and formed a great American rock band, a documentary detailing their early days, rise to fame, and best of all — breakups and breakdowns — has arrived. The only Bon Jovi documentary series to feature all members past and present, “Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story” premieres on Hulu Friday in the U.S., Star+ in Latin America and Disney+ in all other territories. Binge all four-parts one after the other or dole them out slowly. However you do it, expect to have “Livin’ On A Prayer” stuck in your head for the next week.
— Anitta, arguably Brazil’s most recognizable global pop singer since Astrud Gilberto sang “The Girl From Ipanema” nearly 60 years ago, is preparing to release a new album Friday. It’s titled “Funk Generation,” her first since the 2022’s “Versions of Me,” and its viral hits “Envolver” and “Girl From Rio” (with its interpolation of the Gilberto classic) made her an international star. She’s long aimed to bring Brazilian sounds to the worldwide music market, and focusing on Brazilian funk is an extension of that desire. “’Funk Generation’ is an album where I celebrate my roots. It’s where I express the power of Rio’s funk in every track its unique, danceable, and sensual beats,” she said in a statement. “It’s a rhythm born in the favelas, where I grew up, and it exudes resistance and art in every community.”
— It is time to give Midwest MCs their flowers: Fresh off a tour opening for Migos rapper Offset, Detroit’s Skilla Baby is preparing to drop a new project on Friday, “The Coldest.” If his trap earworm “Bae,” with its celebratory, ladies-first lyrics (“Bae, you know you’re fine, don’t you?” in the chorus) and the community-focused “Plate” are a taste of what’s to come, the release is going to be delicious.
— AP Music Writer Maria Sherman
— “The Big Door Prize,” a sweet, silly dramedy about the residents of a small town turned upside down by the arrival of a machine that reveals a person’s true calling, returns for a second season on Apple TV+. Starring Chris O’Dowd as a local high school teacher, “The Big Door Prize” is based on a book by M.O. Walsh and was one of The Associated Press’ TV shows worth watching in 2023. Season two of “The Big Door Prize” debuted Wednesday. Season one is also still available on the streamer.
— Two teen ghost detectives who appear in DC comic books star in their own series called “Dead Boy Detectives.” The story follows Edwin and Charles, two long-dead teens who spend their afterlife still on Earth and investigating paranormal cases. They’re assisted by a living teen named Crystal Palace who is a clairvoyant. “Dead Boy Detectives” also features Lukas Gage in an over-the-top, comedic role of the Cat King. “The Summer I Turned Pretty” actor David Iacono plays a demon. The ghostly investigations are available now on Netflix.
— Idris Elba and Adam Pally reprise their “Sonic the Hedgehog” characters for the new animated series “Knuckles” on Paramount+. Elba plays Knuckles, an Echidna with super strength, who is adjusting after moving to Earth at the end of “Sonic the Hedgehog 2.” Pally is Wade Whipple, a not-so-bright deputy sheriff. “Knuckles” is part of Paramount’s efforts to expand the popular “Sonic” brand. Ben Schwartz and Tika Sumpter also reprise roles from the films. All six-episodes of “Knuckles” stream Friday.
— Alicia Rancilio
— Sony’s Stellar Blade takes place on an Earth that’s been mostly abandoned after an invasion by hordes of mysterious monsters called the Naytiba. Enter Eve, a sword- and gun-wielding warrior who has returned to her home planet to help out the few people left, including a scavenger named Adam. The Biblical references pile up — for example, the last city standing is Xion — but the real influence is the popular hack-and-slash epic Bayonetta. If you’ve been craving another flamboyant adventure with a beautiful woman battling hideous beasts, Korean studio Shift Up hopes it’s got you covered. Start swinging Friday on PlayStation 5.
— Electronic Arts’ Tales of Kenzera: Zau is less campy and more down to earth. Its protagonist, Zau, aims to become a healer and, maybe, bring his father back from the Land of the Dead. The aspiring shaman has some nifty parkour skills as well as sun and moon masks, which allow him to, respectively, launch spears and manipulate time as he fights evil spirits. Tales of Kenzera is the debut title from Surgent Studios, which was founded by voice actor Abubakar Salim, and he says it was inspired by Bantu folklore as well as his own experience with grief. The journey began Tuesday on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Xbox X/S and PC.
— Lou Kesten
Catch up on AP’s entertainment coverage here: https://apnews.com/entertainment.
This combination of images shows album cover art for "Funk Generation" by Anitta, and promotional art for the Hulu series "Thank You, Goodnight" (Republic Records/Hulu via AP)
This combination of images shows promotional art for the Paramount+ series "Knuckles," the Apple TV+ series "The Big Door Prize," and the Netflix series "Dead Boy Detectives. (Paramount+/Apple TV+/Netflix via AP)
