Entertainment Weekly has gathered Marvel’s Royal Family together for the first official cast photo for Inhumans, ABC’s upcoming live-action series that’s due to air this fall.
Anson Mount anchors the ensemble as Black Bolt, while there’s also a sneak peek at Eme Ikwuakor as Gorgon, Ken Leung as Karnak, Serinda Swan as Medusa, Isabelle Cornish as Crystal, and former Game of Thrones actor Iwan Rheon as Maximus the Mad. It makes for quite the formidable lineup, and after spending time with both Earth’s Mightiest Heroes and the Guardians of the Galaxy – not to mention the oncoming Defenders – Marvel fans are on the verge of being introduced to a vastly different, and arguably more dysfunctional ensemble.
Indeed, when EW asked series showrunner Scott Buck (Iron Fist) if he’s inspired by one Inhumans comic arc in particular, the writer-producer stressed that ABC’s interpretation – one that will screen its first two episodes via select IMAX theaters on September 1st – is gunning for a slightly different, more modern tone.
I was so curious to see what their origins were, so I started at the very beginning. Obviously, if you look at those comics from the early ’60s, they’re a very different tone than what we’re doing. It was fun to see how it all began, but I just continued to leap forward. I have not read all of them, but I continue to look through some of them. There were so many different incarnations of the Inhumans, though, so it was more a matter of figuring out, what’s the story we want to tell? Going back and then reading the whole backstory of them all was very helpful, but from that, we just pretty much moved forward.
Similar to how Luke Cage, Daredevil, Jessica Jones and Iron Fist inhabit the same timeline under the looming shadow of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Inhumans will share story elements with fellow ABC series, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Per EW:
Buck: We all inhabit the same universe, so things that have happened on S.H.I.E.L.D. will potentially affect our show as well.
EW: Have you thought about crossover at all?
Buck: Not at this point. [Laughs] We’re just trying to get this launched.
Regarding the planned IMAX release, Scott Buck touched base on those “cinema-quality” visual effects, and the creative agency both he and the production team enjoyed when crafting Inhumans for the large-screen format.
Yes, I would say the first two episodes do, because it gave us a lot more freedom and pushed and encouraged us to think a little bit bigger than we would if it was just a normal network show. We just wanted to think bigger in terms of scope, and what we were seeing, and how we bring these characters to the audience.
Inhumans will bow via ABC sometime this fall following its IMAX premiere on September 1st. It’ll be comprised of eight episodes in total.
