NYCC '11: Jeph Loeb Discusses Marvel's TV Future

JL: Well, I don’t know if it was the first push for Marvel TV, it was kind of the thing that came out in front. When I took over Marvel Television about a year and a half ago, it was a project that had been started by Simon Phillips at Marvel. It was a partnership that had been made between us and Sony and MadHouse Animation. If you know anything about Anime, it’s odd to say this, but MadHouse invented Anime; it’s sort of like saying someone invented rock and roll, as far as I’m concerned. [Laughs] But they really are the preeminent house.

Using stories that are created by acclaimed author Warren Ellis, there were four, twelve part stories. The first was Iron Man, the second Wolverine, the third is X-Men, and the fourth is the one that we get the biggest reaction from when we go to any Con, and that’s Blade. These are all incredibly high quality Anime that were done originally for Japan. They are stories that take place in the Pacific Rim. They are the true Marvel characters – Tony Stark is Iron Man, Logan is Wolverine, etc. – but the adventures take place over there, and have large Asian casts… Which I think really helps sell the idea that they’re in that Anime world.

JL: What folks are going to get a chance to see at New York for the first time are, we have some very early – but finished – animation for Ultimate Spider-Man. We have this terrific cast led by Drake Bell who plays Peter and Spider-Man. Most folks know him from the Nickelodeon show Drake & Josh, but he really does embody the best parts of Peter – and Spidey. He gets the humor down, the troubled teenager down… It really is an awful lot of fun.

It is unlike any Spider-Man series that’s been done so far. Most importantly, it is the first show that’s been produced entirely by Marvel. We have a superb writing staff. Our pilot, and creative consultant, is two-time Emmy winner Paul Dini, who credits are longer than animation itself – and has two shows under his belt that set the standard for action adventure shows: Batman The Animated Series, and Batman Beyond. Together with Man of Action, who are guys that, if you’re comic book fans, you know them as Joe Casey, Joe Kelly, Steve Seagle, and Duncan Roleau. If you know them from animation, you know them from the creation of Ben 10 and Generator Rex. It really is a murderer’s row of writers and producers. And we didn’t even stop there. On top of that, working with us on every episode is the guy who’s written every single issue of Ultimate Spider-Man, Brian Michael Bendis. There’s also been fantastic input from both Joe Quesada, and Amazing Spider-Man Editor Steve Wacker every step of the way. It really is, as we like to say, a family operation.

JL: Please keep in mind that animation is something that takes two years from when you start, to when you start to get your final animation. It’s a long, carefully put together process. So the short answer is that when we started Ultimate Spider-Man, Miles Morales was not a glint in Brian Michael Bendis’ eye. That doesn’t mean that, at some point, we might visit with Miles. He’s certainly a character that caught fire, and as it is with anyone in the Marvel Universe, Spidey will be interacting with some pretty interesting heroes – and villains.

JL: What we’re doing – and I do get asked this question a lot – is that there will be a continuity that refer to as: The Marvel Universe. So we will try to tell stories that don’t necessarily with conflict with anything that’s happening in the Marvel Universe. You’ll see some of the elements from the movies, you’ll see some of the elements from the television group, and you’ll see a lot of elements from the publishing group. The bottom line out of all of this is that Peter Parker is Spider-Man, and we are very true to his life, and his character as a high school student at Midtown High.

JL: Just that it’s in development, it’s the next show up in the chute. We were lucky, because we were able to convince Paul Dini that he was having so much working on Ultimate Spider-Man, so we said, is there a character that really gets you jazzed? And he said, I just love the Hulk, and I would love to find a way to tell a story that had big giant adventure, and was different than Spidey… Where you could really get into some of the bombastic elements of the Marvel Universe.

It’s incredibly huge, and has a cast that’s obviously near and dear to my heart. It has Hulk, and Red Hulk, Skaar, She-Hulk, and the brand new A-Bomb – who is Rick Jones, who has been transformed into the newest, bluest hero of the group.

JL: I'll give you "Dude, we're Marvel TV and we're going to at least have fun doing the best we can!" [Laughs] Putting any show on television is a challenge. I’ve been very lucky to work with incredible showrunners on Smallville, and LOST, and Heroes, I hope to bring a lot of those lessons to Marvel live television. The thing that I do believe makes a difference – and believe me, this is not a commentary on any of the shows that failed – the right showrunner, with the right vision can make the difference.

There is other big differences between Marvel and all the other guys. From the projects that we’ve already announced, and let’s talk specifically about AKA Jessica Jones, which is based on Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Gaydos’ graphic series Alias – and pretty obvious reasons why we can’t call the show "Alias" – and The Hulk… These are shows that, at the end of the day really exist in the real world. It is one of the things that makes Marvel different from our Distinguished Competitors.

Marvel stories tend to take place in New York City. They DON’T take place in Metropolis, or Gotham City. People certainly know I’ve written my fair share of these comics, and I have great respect for what they do over there. But it is a world that one step away from our world. Marvel is really about the stories of Peter Parker, and Bruce Banner, or Jessica Jones. These are – I’m hesitant to say the word, but – real people, with real problems whose power comes, to use the great expression, with great responsibility.

They’re not stories of the superhero, with the cape, who then has a secret identity in order to cover up what it is that they’re doing. It’s the other way around. It will ALWAYS be Peter’s story. The thing that makes us root for Spider-Man, as he swings across the city, is that he’s either having the time of his life, or worrying about whether he’ll be able to get a good grade on that English paper, or whether or not he’s going to make it home in time for Aunt May to make his dinner.

Those are the real world problems that Peter brings to that person with the mask on, to Spider-Man. That's why we are invested in him or Bruce Banner or Jessica Jones... And in Television it's all about investing in the characters who you've invited in your home. It's a very intimate experience and we want to share the Marvel Universe with as wide an audience as possible.

@All_Thats_Bueno
Graphic City