Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson is teaming up with Lionsgate to bring Trill League, an animated adaptation of a superhero comic, to the upcoming mobile streaming service Quibi. According to creator Anthony Piper, who has freelanced for Marvel Comics as a writer on titles like Uncanny X-Men and Domino, the concept for Trill League first began to materialize after he sketched a personality named Trill Robin. From there, Piper expanded to create an entire team of black superheroes that were essentially different interpretations of popular DC characters. Starting up a Kickstarter for his project, the campaign reached over $20,000. The first Trill League graphic novel was released in 2017.
Described as a parody that combines superheroes and anime with hip-hop culture, Trill League began with a persona that Piper has had with him since the second grade: Trill Robin. Heavily influenced by Batman’s sidekick, the character is as focused on social media as he is with fighting crime. Robin would be joined by Swolemayne, from planet Swolton, who's a Superman-type, except that he’s a narcissist playboy. There’s Blackmayne, with his wealth and his secret identity and his fondness for extremely outlandish conspiracy theories. Fusing together Wonder Woman and Beyoncé, Wondeisha rounds out the main quartet of heroes. Those characters, and a set of electric villains, are likely to make the jump to animation.
According to Deadline, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson is teaming up with Lionsgate to bring an animated adaptation of Trill League to Quibi. Jameel Saleem, a writer on Disenchantment and South Park, will share the title of co-creator with Piper. The duo will also serve as writers on the show, with Jackson executive producing. Though he is known as a rapper and actor, Jackson has also been involved in the production side of the entertainment industry. He’s one of the creators and executive producers on Power, which is currently wrapping up its final season on Starz.
Specific plot details and voice actors for Trill League are not yet known, but the synopsis that has been released promises the show’s remixed superheroes will tackle all manner of social injustice and internet trolling while also satirizing modern American society. As to the fact of his work obviously drawing inspiration from DC Comics, Piper has said in the past the parody aspects don’t worry him and pointed out how DC and Marvel have often ended up with strikingly similar ideas.
Piper added that, in any case, his approach was more to use DC’s icons for the sake of adding a personal twist to them. Viewers will be able to decide for themselves if the adaptation is a success. That won’t happen until April 2020, at the earliest, which is when Quibi is set to launch. From its description, and from the very unique summaries of the characters, it’s clear Trill League is aiming for an experience that is entirely unique despite superficial similarities.
Source: Deadline