New Marvel Female Superheroes TV Series Being Developed by ‘Wonder Woman’ Writer

ABC is developing yet another new Marvel Television series, this time focused on “female characters with superpowers” Deadline reports. The series comes from Wonder Woman writer Allan Heinberg, with ABC already having given the project a production commitment. It’s said that the series will be another hour-long drama, with word that it could be focusing on “lesser-known Marvel characters.”

Marvel TV head Jeff Loeb will executive produce alongside Heinberg, though details about which characters are invovled in the series are being kept under wraps. Interestingly enough, Deadline mentions A-Force, Lady Liberators and Fearless Defenders as some of the more obscure Marvel female-centric properties – but there’s no indication that speculation is any kind of hint about the show’s content.

This announcement comes on the heels of word that Marvel Studios has some ambitious new plans for its TV content. In addition to this new broadcast TV series, Marvel will reportedly be launching new Marvel TV content on the upcoming Disney streaming service – specifically miniseries focused on prominent Marvel Cinematic Universe characters. Tom Hiddleston’s Loki and Elizabeth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch have already named as two of the first characters getting such treatment, with the potential for great expansion. In addition to ABC and the Disney streaming service, Marvel’s live-action TV content still encompasses the Marvel Netflix series, Hulu’s Runaways, and FreeForm’s Cloak and Dagger series – all of which have seen solid critical and fan acclaim.

However, ABC was also behind Marvel TV’s biggest failure: this time last year, ABC’s Marvel’s Inhumans was struggling to generate interest with TV audiences, after failing to draw audiences as an IMAX feature “event.” Needless to say, Inhumans ultimately flopped hard on both the (really) big and small screens, which now puts pressure on ABC to launch a successful new Marvel TV project. In truth, the network has struggled to get all three of its previous Marvel TV projects off the ground: Agents of SHIELD came up against cancellation several times before establishing itself as a cult-hit; Agent Carter limped to a two-season finish in the ratings; and Inhumans didn’t make it past season 1. That’s not to mention the Agents of SHIELD spinoff featuring the agents Lance Hunter (Nick Blood) and Bobbi “Mockingbird” Morse (Adrianne Palicki) that never got off the ground – or the “secret project” from 12 Years A Slave writer John Ridely that stalled in production.

That’s all to say: the odds are stacked against this new female superhero show finding success on ABC, but maybe someone like Heinberg will be the good luck charm? If nothing else, ABC needs that next Marvel show to potentially become to the successor to Agents of SHIELD, which is only losing more and more steam, and won’t even return again until 2019. The timing couldn’t be better though: thanks to the debut of the Captain Marvel trailer, fans’ desire for MCUe female superheroes is currently at an all-time high.

We’ll keep you updated on the status of Marvel’s new female superhero series as information is revealed.