The Inhumans may have a rich comic-book history, but their members aren’t household names like, say, Captain America or Iron Man. But all that could change when ABC’s Marvel’s Inhumans arrives in September. And the show is looking to start big. IMAX big.
Yes, the first two episodes of Inhumans will premiere in an IMAX double-bill before the rest of the series hits the small screen two weeks later. “It gives us a massive, dramatic opening,” showrunner Scott Buck explains in the new issue of Empire. “It allows us to think bigger; to use visuals you don’t normally get on your television screen. We wanted [it to be] strikingly beautiful and unusual.”
‘Unusual’ certainly sums up the bunch at this story’s heart; an ancient, lost race of superhumans in exile after a military coup. Black Bolt (Anson Mount, above left) can only communicate in sign language lest his voice cause seismic activity, and his brother Maximus (Iwan Rheon, above right) is a treacherous super genius. There’s also Medusa (Serinda Swan) who has indestructible, killer hair (seriously), and Gorgon (Eme Ikwuakor), capable of creating earthquakes by stamping his hooved feet. Oh – and a giant teleporting dog called Lockjaw.
But beneath its outlandish trappings lies a grounded superhero adaptation, as Buck is keen to stress. “There will be plenty of humour and fantastic elements,” he tells Empire, “but we’re dealing with relatable people in a moment of great crisis: a royal family forced into the position of refugees. They just happen to have superpowers.”
For more on Marvel’s Inhumans, be sure to pick up a copy of the brand new issue of Empire when it arrives in all good and evil newsagents this Thursday.