In a not-too-surprising move, ABC has gone ahead and officially canceled the Marvel Cinematic Universe series Inhumans.
The series ran for one eight-episode season last year, from late September through November. It was the third MCU TV series on the network, after the ongoing Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Agent Carter, which lasted two seasons.
The show focused on the Inhumans, a race of beings who lived in a secret city on the moon and used a substance called Terrigen Mist to give themselves superpowers. (Inhumans living on Earth have been featured in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. as well.) Those who get the best powers are made the most important members of Inhuman society, while the weak or powerless are second-class citizens.
The main characters of the show were the Inhuman royal family, most notably Black Bolt (Anson Mount), whose voice can destroy whole buildings, and his wife Medusa (Serinda Swan), who has super-strong, prehensile hair. The family is overthrown by Black Bolt’s powerless brother Maximus (Iwan Rheon), who claims to want to end the Inhumans’ cast system. The dethroned family are taken to Earth by their giant teleporting dog (everyone’s favorite character, incidentally) and interact with humans.
ABC spent a few months deciding its fate, but with Mount taking a job at Star Trek: Discovery, they apparently decided to cut their losses with this series.
The show was plagued with problems. Despite its IMAX release for the opening, a TV budget for special effects was not enough to bring the rather grand, cosmic story to life; many believe that Medusa’s hair looking so unrealistic is the real reason that it was cut off in-story. There is also the somewhat uncomfortable fact that our “heroes” support an unjust caste system which the “villain” wants to eliminate. This is setting up character development and shocking revelations, but still, it makes them hard to root for from the beginning.
Originally there were plans to make an Inhumans movie, which theoretically could have worked better; however, there was little enthusiasm for it after Ike Perlmutter lost influence on the films. Many feel that it was also rushed out too quickly. Another factor, among Marvel Comics fans, is burnout on the Inhumans; some feel that the company has been promoting them too hard, supposedly to make them into the new X-Men.
