Never say never, right?
Marvel surprised everyone at today’s Television Critics Association with the announcement of four new animated shows, all featuring characters one wouldn’t necessarily envision as heroes championing their own series. In the very near future, Howard the Duck, M.O.D.O.K., Hit-Monkey, Dazzler, and Tigra will all live on Hulu as action heroes who, one assumes, are meant to be saving the world.
Via Marvel, here are the official descriptions for each show, all of which are being billed as “adult animated series”:
• M.O.D.O.K. centres around an egomaniacal supervillain with a really big head and a really little body, who struggles to maintain control of his evil organisation and his demanding family. Writers Jordan Blum and Patton Oswalt will also executive produce.
• Hit-Monkey tells the tale of a wronged Japanese snow monkey, mentored by the ghost of an American assassin, as he cuts a wide swath through the Tokyo underworld in this darkly cinematic and brutally funny revenge saga. Writers Josh Gordon and Will Speck will executive produce.
• Tigra & Dazzler Show is a story about two woke superheroes and best friends, Tigra and Dazzler, as they fight for recognition among powered people who make up the eight million stories in Los Angeles. Writers Erica Rivinoja and Chelsea Handler serve as executive producers.
• Howard the Duck is trapped in a world he never made, but America’s favourite fighting fowl hopes to return home with the help of his unstoppable gal pal Beverly before the evil Dr. Bong can turn him the crispiest dish on the menu. Writers Kevin Smith and Dave Willis will also executive produce.
Not only that, but the heroes of Howard the Duck, M.O.D.O.K., Hit-Monkey, and Tigra & Dazzler Show will all come together in Marvel’s The Offenders, which is exactly what it sounds like: An Avengers knockoff featuring a cat lady and a duck.
This is definitely a surprising turn of events given how bullish Marvel’s been about its own upcoming streaming service—but if anything, this announcement shows that the studio might still have plenty of strange ideas for its intellectual properties.