Marvel's ABC TV series Inhumans has made its
long-awaited debut, with a modified version of the first two episodes landing in IMAX
theaters across the country. Unfortunately, the reaction from critics and
fans has not been kind. The theatrical release currently has yet to
earn a single positive review on Rotten Tomatoes, the box office take has been anemic, and fans
have been left wondering how a project that spent such a long time in development is turning
out to be Marvel's first massive flop. There are several factors that brought Inhumans
to this point, so let's take a look at where this project went so wrong. Red light, green light Inhumans was first announced in 2014, as part
of Marvel Studios' slate of then-upcoming theatrical releases, and it was intended at
that time to be included in Phase Three. The Inhuman Royal Family was never the most
high-profile of Marvel's stable of characters. But at the time of the announcement, the studio
was coming off the surprise smash hit Guardians of the Galaxy, featuring an ensemble of characters
whose profiles had previously been even lower. There seemed to be no reason for concern — until
April 2016, when the project was pulled from Marvel's schedule. At first, Marvel Studios head honcho Kevin
Feige said the release date was just being shuffled to make room for a solo Spider-Man
movie and a sequel to Ant-Man. But then the project moved to the small screen
with ABC, and things got even weirder. "We've been hiding here for too long, let's
go to our rightful home" Rumors persisted that the project was in danger
of being scrapped altogether, and many fans were surprised when casting announcements
soon began to hit the web — and then disappointed, once teaser images soon followed. Terrible teasers The Inhuman Royal Family consists of some
of the most colorful and outlandish characters in Marvel Comics. You've got Medusa's swirling, deadly red locks
and Gorgon's sci-fi-fantasy aesthetic and the fish-man Triton. So, the series' visual design calls for some
serious artistic flair. But when the first teaser images of the cast
in costume were released, it quickly became apparent that we were not going to get that. Fans immediately voiced their dismay on social
media. Medusa in particular was singled out, as her
hair was less of a special effect and more of a really bad wig. The bargain-basement feel of the crucial first
promotional image didn't do anything to increase their anticipation of what should've been
a visual spectacle. And the trailers weren't much better. Despite an appearance by the teleporting dog
Lockjaw getting a positive response, pretty much every other aspect of the trailer was
widely criticized. Medusa again underwhelmed as fans got not
even a tease of what her hair could do, and some even began to wonder if her abilities
would make it into the show at all. The second trailer resolved that issue — but
only by employing some of the worst CGI effects this side of a ten year-old SyFy movie. "Never." A preview shown at San Diego Comic-Con also
left fans deriding the new footage as "aggressively awful." So, instead of hype, the imagery only earned
gripes. Awkward press panel A few weeks prior to the release of the IMAX
presentation, ABC TV held its annual press event with the Television Critics' Association. When the cast of Inhumans came out to talk
to the assembled journalists, it became quickly apparent that they may not have been ready
to field question after question about the poor internet reaction to the trailers and
the show's perceived lack of quality. Anson Mount, for example, responded to questions
about the poor reception by saying they made him feel like Ben Affleck during the Batman
Vs. Superman tour. "I agree." And the rest of the cast members were viewed
as evasive, deflective, and somewhat bewildered by what they were up against. Marvel TV chief Jeph Loeb even snapped at
reporters and shut the event down early. Of course, the cast may have had a reason
to be on edge. Imperiled production The plan to divert Inhumans from the silver
to small screen meant that producers had just months to cast, write, and develop an eight-episode
miniseries from an already ambitious basis. Making matters worse, the IMAX premiere of
the first two episodes meant that those episodes would have to be produced on an extremely
accelerated schedule. Those episodes' director, Roel Reine, revealed
that although the process was "collaborative," he was definitely under the studio's thumb
all the while, telling CNET, there was "always a Marvel executive around me just to make
sure that whatever I did, or whatever we did together, would tie in with other characters
in other universes, in other comics, in other series or movies. They're very protective." The rushed nature of the production is apparent
in the finished product, and the fact that some scenes are gorgeously shot in IMAX actually
hurts rather than helps. The IMAX experiment Critics have pointed out that the scenes that
are shot in IMAX look fantastic, but that they also make it even more apparent which
scenes were not. The interiors and costumes have every bit
the low-budget aesthetic suggested by the trailers, flaws that are only magnified up
on that gigantic screen, with the gorgeous IMAX footage occasionally popping in to make
the rest of the film look even worse by comparison. "We're inhumans" In the first week of a planned two-week run,
Inhumans grossed about $1.5 million, which is a paltry sum compared to the promotional
expenses. While an investment by IMAX will make Inhumans
profitable for Disney no matter what happens, it's not exactly encouraging for partnerships
of this kind in the future. Critical miss In the summer of flailing film studios blaming
critics for killing their box office returns, Inhumans is no exception. Reviewers overwhelmingly railed on what they
saw in the series, from the acting to direction to set design and even special effects. Some have gone so far as to call it the worst
thing Marvel has done. And after the critical lashing the Marvel
TV execs took for Iron Fist, that says a lot. Perhaps the fact that the studio gave the
reins of the show to Iron Fist's showrunner Scott Buck can be blamed for that double-dose
of disses. After all, Iron Fist also failed to live up
to expectations for similar reasons. Both shows were rushed in conception and execution,
poorly written and plotted, and indifferently staged and photographed. Whether or not the failure of Inhumans is
part of any trend of declining quality among Marvel TV productions is up for debate, but
if Buck is allowed to go to bat for a third Marvel property, he's going to have two strikes
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