Recently we got a teaser poster for the upcoming INHUMANS show, which in movie/TV land is like the faint sound of the ice cream truck coming from two blocks away. Now the ice cream man is coming down the street, and thanks to EW we now have the first image of the characters from the show, each one in their stoic, superhero stance.
From left to right we have: Eme Ikwuakor as Gorgon, Ken Leung as Karnak, Anson Mount as Black Bolt, Serinda Swan as Medusa, Isabelle Cornish as Crystal, and Iwan Rheon as Maximus.
They also sat down with showrunner Scott Buck (IRON FIST), and spoke about the immense challenges of bringing such big, super characters to the small screen. The show won’t be seen first on TV screens, instead premiering weeks earlier on IMAX screens, something Buck said gave them much more creative freedom, saying the first two episodes now feel more like movies:
…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.
The visuals and the scope will be grand for sure, but this is ultimately a show about the characters. To that Buck spoke about Black Bolt – the leader of the team who cannot speak – something that was a worthy challenge for both Mount and the production team:
Anson is terrific. I think everyone’s going to be very pleased and excited by his Black Bolt. We’re not doing voice over. If you read the comics, you see Black Bolt does find a way to communicate to people, but he’s also a very enigmatic character as well, and he keeps a lot inside. That’s part of what’s so fascinating about him is that a lot of times, we don’t know what he’s thinking.
But then there’s the big baddie, Rheon’s Maximus, someone who Buck said will be so much more than a smash-and-grab villain:
We were so thrilled to get him because he’s such a super talented actor. We didn’t want to create just a simple villain who’s evil for the sake of being evil. He’s a very real, three-dimensional character. Iwan is more than capable. Every time we watch dailies of him, we’re just more and more excited about what he’s bringing to the screen…I think our Maximus is a different, more complicated, more real, more compelling version of Maximus that has been seen in most of the comics.
Oh, and we can’t forget the one-ton bulldog, Lockjaw, who has the ability to teleport:
Lockjaw is probably going to end up being the audience’s favorite character. We certainly enjoy working with him. He’s fun to write, he’s fun to shoot. There’s not too much more detail than that that I can give, but he is going to be a standout on the show.
I don’t watch AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. much anymore, but that’s just because it’s hard to fit in so much TV-watching in my life. Chances are I’ll watch INHUMANS so I can see what they’re going for, so maybe it will be awesome enough to keep me, and all audiences, on-board for a long period of time. Anything with a massive bulldog has to be amazing, right?
INHUMANS debuts on IMAX screens September 1 before heading to ABC on September 26.