Weird Marvel TV shows
You thought the Avengers were the only marvellous thing that Marvel created or produced? Think again, and read on.
SUPAIDAMAN (1978-1979)
Supaidaman is a Japanese adaptation of Spiderman, a tokusatsu that was produced by Toei Company after a licensed agreement with Marvel. The show tells the story of Takuya Yamashiro, an ardent motorcycle racer, who follows his father to a fallen spaceship called the Marveller (how original). There, he encounters the last survivor of a planet called Planet Spider, who enlightens them about an evil interstellar army that had destroyed said planet and now wants to rule the Earth. The survivor injects some of his blood into Takuya, which gives him spider-like powers to fight against the alien forces and save the Earth.
Even though tokusatsu are somehow awesome, it is weird seeing your average American character with a completely different backstory. Especially when he shoots a rope out of his web-shooter instead of a web.
GENERATION X (1996)
Generation X features a posse of young, new X-Men, who gained their superpowers after a mutation in their genes. They study at a private school only for mutants, obviously. Leaving out the main X-Men characters such as Professor X and Cyclops, this show makes Emma Frost a.k.a. The White Queen and Sean Cassidy a.k.a Banshee teach the newbie trainees. The villain is Russell Trask, a crazy scientist who invented a mind manipulating machine with Frost but was later kicked out due to his shady intentions. He starts kidnapping students to experiment on them, and the young mutants must fight back in order to rescue their own.
Not only does the show have pretty bad special effects due to the production value being really low, the acting too is worth laughing at. Watch this if you want to torture yourself.
FRED AND BARNEY MEET THE THING (1979)
How many of you remember The Flintstones? I only have vague memories of having seen it on Cartoon Network, but that's only it. Fred and Barney Meet The Thing is an animated TV show that showcases Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble from The Flintstones, and The Thing from the Marvel comics. Talk about weird. However, it is not completely a crossover since the show has two segments, the first of which is based on The Thing. He is a teenager in real life named Benjy Grimm who transforms after he bashes two magical rings together and chants, "Thing ring, do your thing!"
My question is: WHY?
ULTRAFORCE (1995)
An army of ultras, with Hardcase as their leader, is looking to abolish evil by fighting their sinister counterparts and the bad men – Rune, Lord Pumpkin, and Sludge to protect the public. Kevin Green is one of the heroes. His transformation, which involves green slime violently merging with his body and turning him into Prime is just ridiculously bizarre. See it for yourself to be sure.
The Malibu Comics' "Ultraverse", later acquired by Marvel, is a pretty eccentric 90s comic in general. The team is too Avengers-esque, and since you don't hear people asking about Ultraverse as much as they ask about Avengers, it's no surprise that this show was a flop.
Zarin Rayhana likes to spend her time by pondering over alternative theories about the universe instead of studying for school. Send her your theories at ericaavianazarin@gmail.com