If you’re a fan of comics over the past 20+ years, you’re probably very familiar with the work of writer Brian Michael Bendis. Actually, even if you have never read a superhero comic book in your life, you probably know who he is. He’s responsible for creating Miles Morales, aka Spider-Man from ‘Into the Spider-Verse,’ and he’s also the man who created Jessica Jones, from well, “Jessica Jones.” Oh yeah, and let’s not forget that he co-created Echo, who has been introduced in “Hawkeye.” Basically, a lot of recent Marvel TV and film projects owe credit to Bendis’ work. And for his first major foray into Hollywood, it appears the writer is going to take a coveted DC Comics property, “Legion of Superheroes,” and bring it to HBO Max.
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According to Brian Michael Bendis’ Substack newsletter, the writer has been hired by HBO Max to bring “Legion of Superheroes” to the streaming service as an adult animated series. The TV show is expected to be based on the recent run of ‘Legion’ comic books that Bendis has been creating alongside artist Ryan Sook.
For those unaware, the Legion of Superheroes is a group of DC heroes from the 31st century who idolize the heroes from our time. In the recent comic book story, Clark Kent, aka Superman, sends his young son, Jon Kent (also, a Superman…it’s a thing), to the 31st century to learn the ropes alongside the Legion.
“Facts: its very early goings but I can tell you This will be an adaptation of the ‘Legion of Superheroes’ that Ryan Sook and I have been working on the last few years,” explained Bendis. “And just like that series, on sale now, it will harken back to so many classics while at the same time doing what Legion does: pushing all the ideas of superheroes forward in every direction. I think ‘Legion of Superheroes’ is among the greatest franchises in the history of comics and I’m as honored to be curating them as I was ‘Spider-Man.’”
As mentioned above, Bendis is one of the most influential comic book writers of all time, and over the past 20+ years, he has taken a number of superhero comics and modernized them in a way that Hollywood has really run with. It definitely was only a matter of time before the writer was hired by a studio to do what he does best in a live-action or animated setting.
Bendis’ most recent creation, the superhero Naomi, is getting her own series on CW, aptly titled “Naomi.” That series was executive produced by Ava DuVernay and is arriving in 2022.