Marvel Rejected Neil Gaiman’s Pitch for a 1602 TV Series

Between American Gods on Starz and Good Omens on Amazon Prime, Neil Gaiman has been enjoying plenty of success on television. So it makes sense that he would begin pitching some of his other creations to various networks. Sadly, we can officially rule out a small-screen translation of one of his more underappreciated stories.

Gaiman recently replied to tweet from WIRED’s Robin Seemangal, who praised the first season of Good Omens. Additionally, Seemangal also encouraged Gaiman to develop a live-action version of his Marvel 1602 miniseries for Disney+. As it turns out, Gaiman already pitched this series to Marvel Television a year ago.

I asked Marvel TV about me making 1602 last year, but they weren’t interested. Such a pity. https://t.co/9LH7mxC5wa — Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) June 27, 2019

Gaiman collaborated with artist Andy Kubert on Marvel 1602, which ran for eight issues from fall 2003 until summer 2004. The story was set outside the mainstream Marvel continuity and transposed the heroes of the Marvel Universe to a 17th century European setting. Reworked versions of Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, Nick Fury, Daredevil, Magneto, and Doctor Doom all made appearances. The series eventually spawned three sequel titles and its alternate universe was revisited in Marvel’s Secret Wars crossover in 2015.

While Marvel may not have volunteered a reason for passing up on Gaiman’s pitch, it may have proven difficult to pull off. For one thing, Sony still has control over Spider-Man’s film appearances and reportedly won’t allow Peter Parker to appear on a live-action TV show. Still, it could have been a fun world to further explore.

Would you have liked to see a TV series based on Neil Gaiman and Andy Kubert’s Marvel 1602? Let us know in the comment section below.

Recommended Reading: Marvel 1602