Arrowed: Hercules

The feature inspired by great cosplay and fan art where I imagine various Marvel properties taken to the small screen and wonder aloud just what their shows would be like. Today's pitch: Hercules.
Cosplay: Unattributed (if you know who this is, let me know!)

Television viewers know Hercules from The Legendary Journeys, sure, but this isn't some period piece shot in the wilds of New Zealand. It's MARVEL's Hercules! (Would probably be billed that way too.) Oh, the show can flash back to some Ancient Greece shenanigans, but it would really take place in the modern world, clashing today's social norms with Hercules' Mad Men+++ "I'm a god" arrogance. It's an action comedy, basically, with Herc getting drunk, brawling and womanizing, but also showing a lot of heart.

In the present, his supporting cast would mainly be Amadeus Cho, but I think a strong woman who won't take his crap would be great too. Maybe she could remind him of his mythical wife Megara, adding a bittersweet layer to the show. He's a man who hides his trauma behind a hedonistic facade, and that trauma is so far back in the past, the facade has almost become his true self. So here come these humans who remind him of who he used to be! So while the show starts out as an action-driven Olympian sitcom, it gets more and more psychologically complex as they go. (Whedon formula?)

But what would you do with your Herc TV show?

Comments

American Hawkman said…
Definitely look to the Van Lente stuff for inspiration, but the tone of Layton's minis is just right as well... to differentiate between Thor and Hercules, emphasizing that he's kind of a hedonistic moron with a heart of gold helps. Personally? I'd pair him with She-Hulk as well as Cho...
Toby'c said…
I'd love to see James Woods play Hades again.