41 Comic Books and Graphic Novels Being Made Into TV Shows Right Now

Between Arrow, The Flash, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., iZombie, Gotham, The Walking Dead, Daredevil, and Agent Carter, not to mention the upcoming Supergirl and Jessica Jones, television is already fairly saturated with comic book shows. But we can't get enough of them, so there are no less than forty-one comic book adaptations currently in development for the small screen. Here are literally dozens of comic book shows you should be watching out for:

Marvel

Marvel's Most Wanted

Luke Cage

The Hero for Hire, played by Mike Colter, will first be introduced as a love interest in Jessica Jones (we saw Colter in

, and he's great), and then will helm his own Netflix series, coming in 2016.

Iron Fist

Iron Fist is the final member of the Defenders team and a frequent partner of Luke Cage/Power Man. He will get his own Netflix series sometime after Luke Cage and Daredevil season two.

Defenders



Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist finally team up in this culminating miniseries on Netflix, which will come out sometime after Iron Fist.

Damage Control



The overworked, underpaid clean-up crew of the Marvel universe finally gets their due in this workplace comedy. The series is currently in development at ABC from Ben Karlin, best known for Modern Family and The Daily Show.

Hellfire

Marvel and Fox team up for this X-Men live-action series on the Fox network, which will tell the story of the Hellfire Club, an international social club for wealthy elites that has a secret agenda to take over the world. Members in the comics have included classic X-Men villains such as Emma Frost, Magneto, and Sebastian Shaw. The series will be co-produced by X-Men veterans Lauren Schuler Donner, Bryan Singer, and Simon Kinberg, as well as Marvel Television's Jeph Loeb, and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Jim Chory.

Legion

Marvel and Fox team up for another X-Men series, this time on FX, which follows Professor X's son, David Haller, a young schizophrenic who discovers that his visions may be real. The series will also be co-produced by X-Men veterans Lauren Schuler Donner, Bryan Singer, and Simon Kinberg, as well as Marvel Television's Jeph Loeb, and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Jim Chory.

Empire of the Dead

George Romero will develop his own Marvel limited series, Empire of the Dead, a zombie apocalypse tale which features zombies similar to those in his classic Living Dead series. It doesn't have a home yet, but Romero and Living Dead collaborator Peter Grunwald are set to write and executive produce.

Dreadstar



The first comic ever published by the creator-focused imprint Epic, Dreadstar follows the sole survivor of the Milky Way galaxy who attempts to stop a deadly war between two ancient empires. The series is moving forward at Universal Cable Productions with comics creator Jim Starlin set to write and executive produce.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. fan favorite Mockingbird and her ex-husband, Lance Hunter, are getting their own spin-off in Marvel's Most Wanted, which will go forward at ABC with S.H.I.E.L.D. producers Jeffrey Bell and Paul Zbyszewski at the helm.

DC

Legends of Tomorrow

Krypton



David S. Goyer, best known for

his work

on the Nolan Batman trilogy as well as the new DCEU, is currently developing a Superman prequel series, Krypton, for Syfy. Plot details are unknown, but it's

presumably

an exploration of life on Superman's home planet before its destruction.

Powerless

Similar to Marvel's Most Wanted, the Office-style comedy Powerless follows normal people who have to contend with all the superhero and villain hijinks of the DC Universe. The show is currently in development at NBC.

Teen Titans

Ronin



Static Shock





#4Hero



Undoubtedly one of the most exciting comic book shows on the horizon, Legends of Tomorrow follows fan favorite characters from the Flash/Arrow universe as they team up to stop DC supervillain Vandal Savage from destroying the world. It stars Caity Lotz, Victor Garber, Brandon Routh, Arthur Darvill, and more, and comes out midseason on The CW.A live-action version of the popular animated series has long been in the works, but as far as we know, this series is going forward at TNT. The show will reportedly follow team leader Dick Grayson/Robin/Nightwing, as well as Barbara Gordon/Batgirl, Dawn Granger/Dove, Rachel Roth/Raven, and Starfire.Syfy will adapt this early Frank Miller comic into a miniseries, which will follow a legendary samurai who is reborn into a futuristic New York, where he must avenge his master's death by defeating the reincarnation of his murderer.The live-action version of the Static Shock animated series has been in the works for some time, but as far as we know it's still moving forward. It will air as a webseries, and Jaden Smith is attached to star as the title character.Machinima is developing a digital series based on the DC Comics series Dial H for Hero, which follows a young girl who discovers an app that turns her into a superhero for a short amount of time.

Vertigo

Lucifer

Lucifer, which comes out midseason on Fox, stars Tom Ellis as the devil after he abdicates his throne in Hell and helps the police catch criminals in LA. It sounds stupid, but the pilot was actually kind of great , so give it a shot.

Preacher

Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg are adapting the acclaimed, blackhearted comic Preacher for AMC, which has had a little bit of success with comic adaptation The Walking Dead. It follows a conflicted preacher who is possessed by a powerful creature who has escaped from heaven, and goes on a journey to literally find God.

Y: The Last Man

After years of development hell, Brian K. Vaughan's Eisner-winning series Y: The Last Man is finally getting adapted, this time as a television series at FX. Vaughan, along with Hunger Games producer Nina Jacobson and World War Z producer Brad Simpson, will co-produce the series, which follows the last man on Earth following a plague that kills any living thing with a Y chromosome.

Amped

Supernatural creator Eric Kripke is developing an adaptation of Amped, which follows a neurotic family man who takes a "smart pill" and accidentally obtains superpowers. The comic hasn't even come out yet, but we're guessing it's high quality if it's already been optioned for television.

DMZ

Syfy is developing an adaptation of DMZ, which follows a young photojournalist who is wounded and stranded in Manhattan during a crisis and is the only one reporting events within the DMZ. Andre and Maria Jacquemetton (Mad Men) are co-writing the series and will executive produce alongside David Heyman (Gravity) and Jeffrey Clifford (Up in the Air).

Dark Horse

Harrow County

Part of NBC's huge deal with Dark Horse comics to adapt several of their properties, Harrow County will follow a young girl who discovers that she is the reincarnation of a powerful witch who died the day she was born.

The Umbrella Academy

Also in development at NBC, Umbrella Academy follows estranged members of a dysfunctional, superpowered family who must save the world. It's also created by the lead singer of My Chemical Romance, because of course it is.

Back Up

Also in development at NBC, Back Up takes place in a near future in which people have achieved digital immortality. Brad Anderson ("Zoo", "Almost Human") is in negotiations to direct.

Concrete

Also in development at NBC, Concrete is based on an Eisner-winning comic series that follows a man whose consciousness is transplanted into a hulking stone body.

Image

Outcast

The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman is once again developing his own comic into a television show, which can only mean good things. The comics follow a young man who tries to discover why his loved ones have been involved in demonic possession since his childhood. The series is moving forward at Cinemax.

Sex Criminals

The comics series, written by comics legend Matt Fraction, follows an actor and librarian who, after sleeping together, realize that they stop time every time they orgasm, and ultimately use their powers to rob a bank in order to save her flailing library. Fraction and his wife/collaborator Kelly Sue DeConnick are developing the series for Universal.

Hack/Slash

In a series that was just announced today, X-Men Origins: Wolverine screenwriter Skip Woods will adapt Hack/Slash, which follows horror victim Cassie Hack as she strikes back at slasher villains who prey on teenagers, including classic baddies like Re-Animator and Chucky.

Lazarus

Lazarus takes place in a dystopian society in which 16 wealthy families, each of which is protected by a genetically altered, unkillable leader, rule over all of society. The series doesn't yet have a network, but development is moving forward with comics creator Greg Rucka set to pen the script and executive produce.

The Wicked + The Divine

This Eisner Award-nominated series from Kieron Gillen follows a young girl as she interacts with the Pantheon, a group of twelve humans who discover that they are reincarnated deities, which brings them fame and power, but also means they will die within two years. The show will be produced by comics legends Matt Fraction and Kelly Sue DeConnick.

The Infinite Horizon

Greg Berlanti is literally working on a thousand TV shows , but he still has room for one more, as he will helm the adaptation of The Infinite Horizon, a loose interpretation of The Odyssey that follows a futuristic soldier's journey as he leads a group of abandoned soldiers home.

Pax Romana

Syfy will adapt Pax Romana into a miniseries, which will depict the Vatican discovering the secret to time travel and using it to fix the future by sending enhanced soldiers and modern weaponry to Rome in 312AD. Matthew Federman and Stephen Scaia (Warehouse 13) are writing the show, with Scaia and David Alpert (The Walking Dead) executive producing along with comics creator Jonathan Hickman.

Other

Kill Shakespeare

In this darkly humorous series, Shakespeare heroes such as Hamlet, Juliet, and Othello face off against the most nefarious Shakespearean villains such as Lady Macbeth, Iago, and Richard III as they try to kill a reclusive wizard named William Shakespeare.

Riverdale

Greg Berlanti again! The prolific producer will helm the adaptation of the Archie Comics characters Archie, Betty, Veronica, and Josie and the Pussycats, previously developed by Fox but now moving forward at The CW.

Enormous

Fox is developing this monster comic into an event series, which will take place in a world that has been taken over by giant monsters who threaten humankind with extinction.

Red

NBC is developing an adaptation of the Red comics series (also adapted into the Bruce Willis film of the same name), which will follow a retired CIA agent who goes on the run when the CIA decides to assassinate him.

Letter 44

Syfy will adapt Charles Soule's relatively new comics series, which follows the new president of the U.S. who learns, via a letter from his predecessor, that seven years earlier, NASA discovered an alien construction project in the asteroid belt. We haven't heard news from this series since it was optioned in 2014, but as far as we know it's still in the works.

Protocol Orphans

Co-created by actor Peter Facinelli, comic series Protocol Orphans follows a foster family of orphans who are trained as covert operatives by the U.S. government. The adaptation will be written by Person of Interest's Amanda Segel, and is moving forward at Fox.

The Disciples

The Disciples, which was acquired before it was even released back in May, centers on a religious cult on Jupiter and a group of detectives who are attempting to find a politician's missing daughter. It was supposed to be developed by Wes Craven prior to his death, but Universal has announced that they are moving forward with all of his projects, so it seems that the show is safe for now.

Winterworld

Winterworld is another comic that was optioned for television before it even came out. The graphic novel by Chuck Dixon and artist Jorge Zaffino takes place in a world that has been encased in ice from pole to pole, causing humanity to regress into a violent tribal society. The show will be developed by XBox Entertainment.

RASL

The acclaimed black-and-white noir graphic novel by Jeff Smith follows an art thief who jumps to parallel universes in attempts to steal famous paintings, but runs into danger as he is pursued by the government. It has been optioned at Universal, with Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald producing.

El Pantera

El Pantera is a Mexican comic series that follows a young police officer who becomes a vigilante in order to rid the Mexican-American border of the Mexican mob. Warren Ellis is set to adapt the comic at Universal, with Gale Anne Hurd (The Walking Dead) attached to produce.

Possible series

Watchmen

There hasn't been further news beyond that, but we desperately hope it happens, as a two-hour movie didn't come close to doing the complexities of the graphic novel justice.

Zack Snyder has confirmed discussions of a possible Watchmen series with HBO.

Punisher

Netflix has confirmed that a solo Punisher series is possible , and the rumors have been flying for quite a while now. Considering the popularity of the character, and the relationship between Marvel and Netflix, so long as Jon Bernthal's Frank Castle is well-received in Daredevil season two, we'd expect to see this one confirmed.