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The Phantom miniseries slated for SyFy channel

1 minute 18 comments

A Phantom four hour mini-series is set to air in June on the SyFy channel.

While still based on the classic comic strip hero created by Lee Falk, the new miniseries radically updates The Phantom’s traditional costume and setting. The miniseries first aired in Canada at the end of December and has finally been put on SyFy’s 2010 schedule.

According to a post on SyFy’s official Twitter account (via Phantom Site), the two-part “Phantom” miniseries will air in June. The miniseries may also serve as a backdoor pilot for a TV series, depending upon the ratings and fan reaction.

According to MTV, this mini-series is unrelated to the feature film which is in development.

Here’s a preview of the mini-series:

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Comments 18

  1. Wow. I normally hate “reimagined” classics. But the preview definitely has me intrigued! Did any or you Canadian cartoonists catch the miniseries when it aired? What did you think?

  2. I love the “I’m not wearing that” moment. But most of the rest of it seemed a little too silly or cliché to really be stepping away from the comic-strip origins of The Phantom.

    In short, the preview has me convinced that the show doesn’t know what it wants to be. So I’ll probably watch it anyway, because I’m a sucker for this stuff.

  3. Gotta admit I chuckled on that “not wearing that” line too. Those body suits superheroes wore back in the ’30s and ’40s might a have been rockin’ back then, but they’re silly now. Glad to see someone recognize that.

  4. It feels like I’m the only person who loved the Billy Zane Phantom movie. It had the original costume, was totally pulpy and silly, and featured a Dave Stevens-esque Sky-Valkyre Catherine Zeta Jones.

    Do you remember the poster campaign for that movie was “SLAM EVIL!” I mean, come on. How can you not love that.

  5. Novel and comic book writer Peter David loved the Phantom movie, too. I’ll have to rewatch it.

  6. When you use the line ?I?m not wearing that?, you’d better come up with something better to wear instead… and the costume they did use actually looked worse than the dummy with the original costume…

  7. Hulu has the Phantom movie! It’s the mask the Phantom wears that appeals to me in the strip, I’ve never liked the purple stripped over-undies. Other than that the Phantom is awesome. He has a horse and a wolf that obey his every command, a skull ring that leaves a permanent mark on your face, a girl that loves him for who he is, and he’s the savior of Pygmies everywhere! I didn’t see a single Pygmy in this teaser.

  8. @Dan: Thanks for the heads-up on Phantom movie being on Hulu. I know what I’m watching today!

    I do hope they make it into a GOOD series. Phantom is a marvelous property for adventure storytelling.

  9. I’m sorry, Samantha, Last time I looked It was on HULU… Now I don’t see it.

  10. Batman, Superman, Spider-man, Zorro, etc, etc, etc…
    all kept the same basic costumes with some modifications.
    Why not the Phantom? I’m still waiting for a Captain Marvel movie. Guess I’m “Old School” eh 🙂 As a Phantom fan… I will be looking forward to seeing the series.

  11. I loved the Phantom movie as well. I thought it was one of the few movies based on a comic strip that was fairly true to the character, and a thought the quality of the movie was higher than the silly “Slam Evil” campaign that marketed it. Did not at all like the power of the skulls. The costume was not actually the original but had some good updates built on the original. The reason the movie didn’t do better was that very few of the young movie-goers (who make up so much of the ticket sales) had any idea who the Phantom was. So many papers had dropped the feature by the time it was released in 1996, and King Features never promoted its characters in the same way other comapanies have over the years.

    Also loved the “I’m not wearing that” line of the SyFy trailer. But I definitely agree that a line like that should foreshadow something better. And the result, at least what’s seen in the trailer, is awful. My idea for a contemporary Phantom costume would be either to make it so dark purple, it seems more like it’s black, or give a nod to Falk’s original thinking and make it dark gray with a purple cast to it.

  12. @DanT: Well, darn it! I also checked Fancast and Crackle, my other two favorite movie sites.

    Regarding the suit, I suppose it’s conceivable (even probable) that a young man of today, not knowing of the Phantom, would not want to wear the bodysuit for any reason. (Imagine someone telling my teen-aged son that he had to wear that….I can hear his emphatic “NO” in my mind.)

    I do like the idea of a dark suit with a purple cast, but that sounds so 80’s! Hahaha

  13. I think a few of these superheros really just need some therapy instead of a costume.

    Only the deeply disturbed would react to a tragedy by turning themselves into a bat.

    /snark

  14. I think that new suit is awesome! It’s a lot like that Captain America costume from the ’70’s tv show?you know, with the motorcycle helmet and Plexiglas shield? I bet this show will be just as good as that one! Those “creative executives” have out done themselves once again!!

  15. Of course I’m lying through my teeth.

  16. I was worried you lost your mind there Eddie. I think the new suit is a mess. A messy mess.

    It would have been really cool to see him in the old suit. That is a really classic and cool design.

  17. I too thought that the Billy Zane Phantom movie was a terrific interpretation of the comic strip, with a sturdy lead and great supporting cast (Catherine Zeta-Jones, Treat Williams, Kristy Swanson). It had that Rocketeer/ Indiana Jones retro feel to it. This mini-series preview seems to me like an attempt to make the Phantom somehow appeal to the kids. I agree, this new ‘costume’ is awful. And the lead actor may be appealing but he doesn’t look like Phantom material. But at least it’s making the attempt, and it’s nice to see that “The Ghost Who Walks” is getting another shot at at a live-action treatment .

  18. Well, I’m pleased to know there’s a subculture that enjoyed the Phantom movie! I always tell people it was good and has been underrated, and they look at me like I two heads. I thought it was a terrific popcorn movie, which is all it aspired to be.

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