It was a bloodbath leading into the weekend. In preparation for their fall television lineups and upfronts, as new shows come on air, major networks canceled approximately 20 shows in a 24-hour period, in what was dubbed television’s annual Black Friday Purge. Among the shows nixed was ABC‘s “Marvel’s Inhumans,” perhaps one of the least surprising projects to get the ax this season considering the way critics savaged it. Not only did it earn a pitiful 10% score from Rotten Tomatoes (whose TV section needs work and ranks nearly everything fresh), but also, the first season averaged a dismal Nielsen rating of 0.62 in the 18-49 demographic and only 2.56 million viewers.
READ MORE: ‘Marvel’s Inhumans’ Lives Up To The Bad Buzz [Review]
“Marvel’s Inhumans” was first announced in 2014 as part of Marvel Studios’ Phase Three, originally given a tentative release date of November 11, 2018. Marvel Studios‘ president, Kevin Feige, then pushed the release date to summer 2019, before stripping the project of a release date altogether. Finally, in a move nobody expected, Marvel decided to release “Inhumans” in a drastically different form: the story was going to be told through the medium of television, not film.
Ultimately settling on a happy medium, Marvel partnered with ABC and IMAX, premiering “Inhumans'” two-episode premiere in theaters two weeks prior to its release on ABC. Unfortunately, the box office debut amounted to just $3.5 million as bad buzz was already in the air and early trailers looked abysmal. Perhaps the critical and financial flop of “Marvel’s Inhumans” is a blessing in disguise. Marvel Studios seems to have rushed this project, not doing its unique, original story justice.
It’s possible that Marvel could bring the “Inhumans” back to the big screen and forget the show existed, properly weaving them into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. After all, Feige didn’t rule out the possibility of another adaption even as the show was heading to TV.
“I don’t know when. I think it’s happening on television.” Feige told Slash Film about the Inhumans storyline on ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. back in 2016. “And I think as we get into Phase Four as I’ve always said, it could happen as a movie. I think it would be super cool.”
MCU’s Phase Four lineup reportedly runs until 2028, so who knows, maybe the heroes will get their due on the big screen later on down the road.
“Marvel’s Inhumans” starred Anson Mount, Iwan Rheon, Serinda Swan, Eme Ikwuakor, Isabelle Cornish, Ken Leung, Ellen Woglom, Sonya Balmores, and Mike Moh. It was executive produced by Scott Buck, along with Marvel’s Jeph Loeb and Jim Chory. Here’s a reminder of how bad that original trailer was.
Here’s a list of shows, courtesy of Vulture, that got the ax this week. Though you’ve probably heard by now that “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” was rescued by NBC nearly 24 hours after being canceled by Fox.
ABC
Alex, Inc.
Deception
The Crossing
Kevin (Probably) Saves the World
The Mayor
Marvel’s Inhumans
Ten Days in the Valley
Designated Survivor
Quantico
NBC
Taken
Great News
The Brave
Rise
CBS
Scorpion
Fox
The Last Man on Earth
The Mick
The Exorcist
Lucifer
The CW
Life Sentence
Valor