

It’s telling when the Inhumans trailer at San Diego Comic-Con was met with a tepid response from an audience that is typically salivating for the next big superhero thing coming out of Hollywood. Inhumans just seemed off to fans, so when ABC took to the stage at the Television Critics Association press tour, the defensive stance made by most of the creatives and executives involved might’ve been more interesting than the show they were discussing. But first, some solid info on ABC’s next Marvel show.

Jeph Loeb said that Inhumans takes place in Agents of SHIELD continuity, and the royal family is aware of the Inhumans stuff from that show, but they want this to feel like something you can watch without having seen anything else in ABC’s Marvel universe.

From there, things started to go a little pear-shaped. When a reporter asked actor Anson Mount a question suggesting the show’s not good, he said: “You’re making me feel like Ben Affleck right now,” then he mentioned Simon and Garfunkel. Somewhere, the “Sound of Silence” was playing.

To the reporters in attendance, it seemed like the panel went over as well as the pilot:

Artist's rendering of various responses to reasonable, well-stated questions during the Inhumans panel. #TCA17 pic.twitter.com/f1NYOo57qo — Erik Adams (@ErikMAdams) August 6, 2017

It's remarkable how awkward that "Inhumans" panel was even though none of us mentioned that Scott Buck ran "Iron Fist" season 1. #TCA17 — Alan Sepinwall (@sepinwall) August 6, 2017

So if the head of Marvel TV doesn’t know what the business model is on this, I have legitimately no clue why this is happening. https://t.co/x2kxKq7tAV — Daniel Fienberg (@TheFienPrint) August 6, 2017

You'll be happy to know that the Inhumans panel is just as uncomfortable as the Inhumans pilot. #TCA17 — Libby Hill (@midwestspitfire) August 6, 2017

"It was the only way that they were going to let a redneck play a superhero," Mount jokes about having no dialogue on #Inhumans #TCA17 — Danielle Turchiano (@danielletbd) August 6, 2017

The odd thing about Marvel people is they seem eternally surprised that some critics think their ABC shows are terrible. Which they are. — Robert Bianco (@BiancoRobert) August 6, 2017

That #Inhumans panel was like a live table read on #CurbYourEnthusiasm — Tim Goodman (@BastardMachine) August 6, 2017

A smart, well-framed question from @Deggans gets pushed aside from Loeb with, basically, “We’re Marvel, we do what we do" — Tim Goodman (@BastardMachine) August 6, 2017

We’re now watching Anson Mount scroll through something on his phone. #Inhumans #TCA17 — Jason Lynch (@jasonlynch) August 6, 2017

Anson Mount has a 50-page Google doc for the sign language he invented for a show that will be canceled after one season. #tca17 — Todd VanDerWerff (@tvoti) August 6, 2017

Our senior TV critic Alan Sepinwall tried to discuss the convoluted exposition of the Inhumans pilot, but was unsatisfied with the response he received:

https://twitter.com/sepinwall/status/894315164782047232

about what they thought they were, nobody got it right. I said this to Jeph Loeb, who said he wished he had been there when I did the poll+ — Alan Sepinwall (@sepinwall) August 6, 2017

because he could have explained it. Which isn't ideal, even if he insists we've seen an unfinished product, and final version explains more. — Alan Sepinwall (@sepinwall) August 6, 2017

And the kicker:

ABC is cutting this Inhumans panel off a few minutes early. #TCA17 — Jason Lynch (@jasonlynch) August 6, 2017

Of course, a weak trailer doesn’t make for a guaranteed bad show, but this certainly has evolved into a strange, grand drama, hasn’t it?