Con SuiteThe Reactor

First look: Marvel’s Inhumans

by Boukenred

From the pages of Marvel comics comes Inhumans, which will debut this Fall in both IMAX theaters and on ABC’s upcoming television series. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, Inhumans will see the debut of Black Bolt and his society of the Inhumans within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. They will be making their presence known to the world, after staying hidden for a long time. Inhumans stars Anson Mount as Black Bolt, Iwan Rheon as Maximus, Serinda Swan, Eme Ikwuakor, Isabelle Cornish, Ken Leung, Ellen Woglom, Sonya Balmores, and Mike Moh.

A hidden society of Inhumans has been living at the city of Attilan on the moon for many years, lead by their king, Black Bolt (Anson Mount) and members of the royal family. Their ancestor was exposed to the Terrigen Mist, which gave them supernatural powers. Once their existence was discovered by the people on earth; the military attacked their city of Attilan on the moon, causing the Inhumans to evacuate from their base. Making their escape using their family dog, Lockjaw, to teleport out of danger; they soon escaped to Hawaii, where they encountered the people of Earth. While Maximus (Iwan Rheon) suggests to Black Bolt that they must strike back against the humans, he also secretly has a plan to dethrone Blackbolt and become the new king.

Inhumans is the first time Marvel has had their television series debut in an IMAX theater before its first airing on television. While Inhumans was originally planned to be part of the phase-3 movie lineup, it was then changed to be a television series, to allow for better storytelling. The Inhumans have also made their existence known in another Marvel television series, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.; while only the name of the Inhumans race and characters unrelated to the main series have appeared on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, their inclusion has created anticipation for the Inhumans series.

Editors note: In addition to the discussion with the cast, Boukenred attended a showing of the first three episodes.

Throughout the first chapter, Anson Mount’s performance relies solely on his facial expression and body movement, as his character, Black Bolt, is limited from speaking freely as he wants to do. This makes both Iwan Rheon and Serinda Swan’s interactions as Maximus and Medusa more important to the series as a whole. The struggle between good and bad becomes an important part of the show, as highlighted through Rheon’s and Swan’s performances, and their interactions with Mount’s character Black Bolt help progress the narrative story.

Another important subplot in the series is the use of Crystal (Isabelle Cornish) and her perspective of the series as an introduction to the Inhumans story, and possibly their origin. Along with the rest of the Royal family, including their pet Lockjaw, the audience will learn more of each character’s role in their society. While audiences may have discovered the existence of the Inhumans from the show Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Inhumans will give them a better perspective of this new race and they will see more about how the Inhumans feel about humankind.

If the IMAX format proves to be a commercial success in pre-release, it may give  fans an opportunity to experience more show’s pilots in this superior film format, before watching new shows on television. This opens up possibilities for future television programs to film using the IMAX camera, and perhaps raise the bar on the quality of television production for the future. Like Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Inhumans has a rich story arc that will have the potential to be another fan favorite, as well as introduce viewers to lesser-known superheroes from the comics. You can catch Marvel’s Inhumans debuting its first chapter in IMAX theaters on September 1st, for two weeks only; then premiering its 8-part television series on ABC on September 29th.