The comparisons between the MCU and the DCEU will never end, especially now that both franchises are introducing their respective multiverses and building a roster of small screen exclusives that will air on a streaming service owned by their parent companies. The recently announced Nick Fury series is the ninth Marvel show currently in development, while DC are constantly expanding their own lineup as well.
In addition to J.J. Abrams’ Justice League Dark and The Batman companion piece in the works from Matt Reeves and Terence Winter focusing on the Gotham City Police Department, John Cena will also headline a spinoff of The Suicide Squad focusing on his character Peacemaker. On top of that, the likes of Constantine and Zatanna have also been rumored for projects of their own. But it seems that more is still to come.
According to insider Mikey Sutton, Deadman is reportedly the next relatively obscure superhero to be getting the small screen treatment. DC’s second most famous acrobat behind Dick Grayson, Boston Brand was a trapeze artist who wore corpse paint as part of his stage persona, and was murdered during a performance before being resurrected as a disembodied spirit by a Hindu god named Rama Kushna and given the ability to possess any living entity.
As far as superhero origin stories go, that’s a pretty wild concept, but in the right hands, it could be perfectly suited for HBO Max if the plan is to offer a more serious alternative to the light-hearted hijinks that characterize the MCU. Deadman is also a regular member of the Justice League Dark, meaning that Warner Bros. could be heading down the route of establishing an interconnected small screen universe that complements the one seen in the movies.
