New Marvel TV Series DAMAGE CONTROL Coming To ABC
Ben Karlin, former executive producer of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, is developing a new show called Damage Control for Marvel TV, and ABC has just given it a pilot order.
The half-hour live action comedy will follow the clean-up crew of the Marvel universe. Deadline describes them like this:
Specializing in dealing with the aftermath of the unique fallout from superhero conflicts, they’re the ones who are in charge of returning lost ray guns to their rightful owners, help to reschedule a wedding venue after it has been vaporized in a superhero battle, or even track down a missing prize African parrot that’s been turned to stone or goo.
The team has never had their own ongoing comic book, but has appeared often in Marvel stories since the late '80s, including making an appearance in Civil War (though they won't be in the film adaptation). You can read more about them here.
This sounds extremely similar to Powerless, an office comedy in the works at NBC set in the DC Comics universe about people who work at an insurance company who deal with the fallout of superhero and supervillain damage. Do you think there's enough room on TV for two superhero shows with essentially the same premise? Obviously there are a bunch of superhero shows already (not to mention countless lawyer and cop shows that are essentially interchangeable), but with something this specific, do you think audiences will actually care enough to tune into both? I feel like whichever one comes out first is going to be the winner, just because the other will seem like a blatant copycat.
Damage Control joins other live-action Marvel shows Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Agent Carter, and the planned SHIELD spin-off Marvel's Most Wanted that centers on Mockingbird and Lance Hunter.