Superheroes on TV in 2016

Hey all!

Writing for book 2 is well underway and HOLY CRAP I am excited to revisit this world again. There’s nothing like immersing yourself back in your world, exploring your characters. For every bit of ‘omg book 2 has to be good’ dread you feel, you get a bit of ‘OMG I can actually include THIS and THIS now!!’ push back that makes the process maddening and exciting and joyful and queasy and a little gassy of course because my snacking while writing habits are atrocious!

I wanted to take a break so I watched the latest episode of The Flash again and while I was shaking my fists at Barry’s inability to come up with a logical plan that didn’t involve Patty getting unnecessarily placed right at the center of fatal peril, I kinda realized…there are a LOT of superhero TV shows now. Like, a LOT! And I’m kind of here for it.

I mean there have always been Superhero-ish TV shows. Like remember that Lois and Clark show in the 90s? My parents and I watched the crap out of that even though it was a bit hilarious how they adapted Superman and his wacky villains into that early 90s family drama framework. Then of course there was Smallville, and we can’t forget that, especially if you watch Flash or Arrow nowadays because Felicity was basically created from the ashes of Chloe.

But now it feels like because of the success of Superhero stuff in film we’re getting more on the little screen. Off the top of my head:

Here’s why I kinda like that.

1. Fun and Daring storytelling made a comeback! Remember post 2000 when every other show is a police procedural or reality TV? I mean every once and a while we a got a Lost or a Heroes, but for the most part, TV was kind of lacking in the fanciful, the daring. What I love about bringing comics to the small screen is that we’re bringing all the wackiness and ‘can they do that?’ whimsy along with it, from the bright, fun kind of wacky (ie: heroes fighting sharks on the way to a date) to the dark gritty kind of wacky (ie: everything the Kingpin was in Daredevil, brain splattering and all). And I think people are getting used to it too!
2. Fantasy and Sci Fi isn’t taboo anymore! This kind of ties into point 1, but it’s kind of awesome that SFF has been getting a bigger platform on the small screen. I mean it’s still not heavily recognized by award shows, but I mean who cares about that? Now us nerds are finally getting to feel just a little validated having our own interests getting some shine in the mainstream. I feel like we avenged Firefly somehow lmao.
3. Emphasis on Fandom Building! I feel like superhero TV, like most SFF shows, are bringing fandom more to the forefront with respect to TV watching culture. This is the kind of thing that used to be more in the shadows. And of course if you participated in fandom you were kind of looked down on by so called ‘normal’ people. It’s getting more and more acceptable to care about SFF and to participate in fandom to the point where TV casts and staff are actively participating in fandom online. Now this might be somewhat exploitative on their part, but I mean the good thing is, you don’t really have to look that hard anymore to find people that are interested in the geeky stuff you’re into.

I really do wonder if this will spread to other mediums, like of course books, but we’ll have to see where the cards fall there – especially now that we’re seeing more YA adaptations of comic book stories…oh the possibilities!