During ABC's 2017 upfront presentation, the network delivered the first full trailer for Marvel's Inhumans. The network didn't make the trailer available for audiences right away, though, which was a curious decision at the time. But now the trailer is here in all its glory(?).
The eight-episode event is set to kick off first in IMAX, before landing on the network for the remainder of its run. The series will explore Marvel's Inhuman Royal Family, including Black Bolt, Medusa, and more as they flee to, of all places, Hawaii. The change of location from their home of Attilan to the island state certainly make things easier on a television budget, but will it translate to a brand new Marvel television series that fans will eagerly tune into? Take a look at the new trailer and see for yourself.
Despite being a Marvel product, Inhumans faces something of an uphill battle. The ultra-weird, C-level comic book characters were supposed to get their own feature film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but some rejiggering of Marvel Studios' release schedule and an obvious aversion to releasing a big budget feature film that would be a tough sell even in today's comic book-loving movie market resulted in the IP being shifted to television… with a caveat that the show will premiere in theaters in the impressive IMAX format. Whether or not the series actually will be impressive remains to be seen, but the trailer does a good job of setting the stage for a risky event series on ABC.
The biggest example of the risk facing the series is that of Black Bolt (Anson Mount), a character who doesn't speak out of fear to unleashing his powers. The trailer makes reference to this twice, going so far as to demonstrate it when Black Bolt is knocked upside the head by a cop and a noise escapes his lips, destroying a few cars. That means the series is being sold not on the king of the Inhumans, but on Maximus (Iwan Rheon) who stages a coup and sends Black Bolt to Earth, and presumably to Men's Warehouse to pick up a snappy suit.
While there is a lot to take in, like Lockjaw teleporting Black Bolt away from potentially destroying Maximus, and a few fight scenes, the trailer doesn't have a lot to go on for fans not familiar with the property. That's an interesting choice, as it seems Marvel and ABC may be counting on knowledge of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s dealings with the Inhumans to fill in the gaps and perform the necessary exposition required to explain the characters' somewhat convoluted history.
As we get closer to the September premiere date it will be interesting to see how Marvel spells out what this series is and who these characters are. It will also be interesting to see whether or not that information will get fans excited to tune in or to shell out for a ticket to IMAX.
Next: Inhumans to Air Fridays; S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 5 Debuts Midseason
Inhumans premieres in IMAX on September 1, and on ABC on September 29.