With the superhero franchises currently looking at a slump, there have been properties that have been poking fun/criticizing the genre with shows like The Boys and Invincible. Now HBO is looking to do the same thing with an upcoming series from the showrunner of Succession and the directors of Skyfall and Veep.
As per The Hollywood Reporter, HBO has greenlit a half-hour comedy series called The Franchise, and it will follow a crew of people trying to run one of the biggest comic book franchises around. Here’s the official description:
“The crew of an unloved franchise movie fight for their place in a savage and unruly cinematic universe. The Franchise shines a light on the secret chaos inside the world of superhero moviemaking, to ask the question — how exactly does the cinematic sausage get made? Because every fuck-up has an origin story.”
The series will star Himesh Patel (Yesterday), Aya Cash (The Boys), Billy Magnussen (Into the Woods), Richard E. Grant (Loki), and Daniel Bruhl (The Falcon and the Winter Soldier).
As for the series creators, we have Jon Brown, Sam Mendes, and Armando Iannucci.
Though some fans would like to think that The Boys already goes in-depth as to the behind-the-scenes issues when it comes to marketing a superhero, it looks like The Franchise isn’t going to feature any actual superheroes, and would be mostly a chaotic workplace comedy really looking into the details of making a cinematic universe run.
With Marvel and DC having their own behind-the-scenes drama over the years, I bet The Franchise will already have a lot of material to pull from, from having to replace actors in key roles to selling a film with a problematic lead.
No release date has been announced for The Franchise, but hopefully it will hit Max sometime later next year.
