The Marvel Universe was set to get a brand new TV show in the form of Helstrom, as part of a larger initiative that saw multiple series journey into the landscapes of fear. Unfortunately, Helstrom is the only show that survived that initial plan after Marvel Studios merged with the television department.
Since this will be the only season of the show there's a lot of expectations riding on it. But there's also a lot of elements that won't go quite as planned, because the series was initially supposed to be a part of something much larger. There will definitely be a few surprises in store for those that tune in to the Daimon Hellstrom comic book show.
MCU Connections
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is always growing and has been a part of the TV shows for some time now. It's difficult to guess where Helstrom could fall in the universe.
But since the series will have been made before the television department was absorbed, then there's a chance that there will be connections with the MCU that the series just cannot avoid.
Travel To Hell
Hell has been depicted in the MCU in a few different ways, with the most notable version being linked to Hela, goddess of the underworld. The show will have to bring in their own version of hell.
The character of Daimon is the son of Satan himself, so hell plays into a huge part of his own story. It's almost guaranteed that the characters will travel to the fiery depths at some stage.
Lots Of Magic
The character of Hellstrom is one of the most powerful magic wielders in the Marvel Universe. It's easy to see how sorcery will play hugely into the narrative.
In fact, the comics were built on dark magic and it's a power that Daimon utilises in order to survive his many run ins with death. The son of Satan certainly has some evil tricks up his sleeve.
Strong Visuals
The Marvel TV shows have been stepping it up a notch in terms of the visuals. There's a lot more creative design when it comes to the cinematography and visual choices of some of the shows.
Helstrom is the kind of show that would benefit from this kind of strong vision and Hulu as a platform isn't going to shy away from a TV show that makes some bold visual statements.
Horror Tones
If hell and dark magic are both included in the show and the original banner was about journeying into fear then it's likely that this series will hold some strong horror tones.
The MCU hasn't dipped into horror very often. Hestrom could follow the route of the comics and completely changing that, relying and shifting around the tropes of the genre.
Doctor Strange References
With all this talk of magic and hell, there's a character and franchise that this series will reference if it is set in the MCU. In the past, characters like Ghost Rider of Cloak and Dagger have made references to Doctor Strange's world.
From the Darkhold, to alternate nightmare realities and sling ring portals, it's clear that Daimon will be using many of the same magical techniques as the master of the mystique arts.
Ghost Rider Links
With Ghost Rider supposedly leading one of the other shows in this line of Marvel TV, there could still be a few different links to the spirit of vengeance. There might even be a cameo from Ghost Rider himself.
It's unclear how much warning they actually had about the collapse of the TV division, so there could have been story elements put in place that would have been paid off in other shows.
An Unresolved Cliffhanger
If the show runners didn't know that they would not receive a second season then there may be a massive cliffhanger at the end of the first series that will never be resolved.
It's happened before in the MCU after one of Agent Carter's partners was killed without any follow up in a season finale. It will be disappointing to see but fairly easy to explain why it happened.
Monsters
There's magic, hell and perhaps even the Ghost Rider, so there should be a few monsters and demons for Daimon to battle against. A lot of the character's rogues gallery is made up of hellish creatures.
There hasn't been many examples of demons in the MCU so this is an interesting opportunity to perhaps set the standard for other projects down the line, if it's all still to remain connected.
Faster Pacing
Some Marvel shows in the past have made the mistake of being too long. With a 10 episode run its clear that the pacing here will be a lot faster, which will benefit the show.
Shorter episode run times will also help this, as less time means that pointless filler scenes can be removed and the overall show feels a lot more brisk and to the point.