NBC is already at work on pilots for the upcoming year, and one that just might make the cut is The Cape. Instead of going the Heroes route and taking a look at the super powered beings, The Cape looks at an everyday Joe, who dons a mask to fight crime.
It centers on a former cop framed for a crime he didn’t commit who becomes the Cape, a masked hero, to clear his name and reunite with his son. Set in Jefferson City — a Los Angeles-type city where corrupt private industries are taking over everything.
The Cape is currently in active development. What say you The Legion of Major Spoilers, will a show like this fly, or sink? Shout out in the comment section below, and maybe, just maybe NBC Uni will be take your comments to heart.
9 Comments
Hmm…if it’s comedic at all, I see it grounding out during the pilot. If it’s taken from the perspective of a guy thrown over the edge and being the everyman hero with that little bit of Falling Down and playing on the factor of the public being behind him, I can see it working. But then again, I’m 36, and past my demographic prime…
Not thrilled with the made-up city tho. A lot of writers and directors think the comic book genre should be removed from the real world completely. Never understood that, myself. The best stories are made from playing on pieces of and events from the real world, anyway, IMHO.
I agree that the series needs to be done with a serious tone. Non-comic readers don’t need superhero comedy to entertain them and avid comic readers don’t want their heroes seen as a joke.
I think the concept could work well because all of us are under so much stress from external pressures that we would enjoy the vicarious thrill of watching an “everyman” like ourselves take on corruption and crime.
There’s always a precarious balance to be met between the action and human drama in such shows. A lot of people watch hero shows expecting to see some good action so, if this person is non-powered, they need to invest in some great fight choreography.
But the person behind the mask needs to be a deeply layered individual with a strong supporting cast. We need to care about what this man is going through on a day to day basis.
We need to relate to him. If it’s just taking down the villain of the week it will get old.
I have long wanted to see a good series about an average person, without powers or extensive training & resources, take on a masked identity and driven by moral conviction. I hope this show delivers.
My only concern so far is the name. Although “capes” are used sometimes to apply to any superhero this is done in universes where they are plentiful. The use of it here makes me think the character might actually wear a cape. … I’m a bit nervous about that.
In all honesty, i think what they need to do with something like this, is make it a comedy with some good writers. I’ve never seen a “serious” comic book tv show that i’ve liked. The only comic superhero show that i’ve ever liked was THE TICK and that fell flat because the writing just wasn’t there after a while.
But comics have worked so hard to be taken seriously…..
It is already drowning! I don’t think NBC can support another superhero series. Audiences are fickle when it comes to superheroes. Heroes came out strong on NBC and now it is on life support! NBC is just waiting for enough episodes to sell it in syndication.
Looking into my crystal ball here’s my call for the characters to appear:
Late 20’s early 30’s female: She’s the brains he’s the brawn! She keeps the wheels moving and he gets her gears moving.
Late 40’s early 50’s male: Once his mentor now his worst enemy! They were closest partners in their unit. So close he married his daughter! Now his daughter is dead and the man that was a son to him is now his daughter’s killer. Can one save the other is it the other way around?
I could keep going feel free to add yours!
The Cape has a brother, darker hair and more ruggedly handsome with piercing blue eyes. This brother had a hot girlfriend who was, coincidentally of course, taken captive in a hostage situation.
The Cape confided his secret identity in his brother and then attempted to free the hostages. The girlfriend was killed in an explosion.
The explosion gave the brother short-term memory loss so he doesn’t remember the Cape’s true identity. But he knows the Cape didn’t stop his girlfriend from dying and he has a shrapnel scar to remind him of his loss.
The brother blames the Cape and has allied himself with the Cape’s arch-foe. The brother has sworn vengeance on the Cape and puts all of his hatred into the Cape’s defeat.
Ummmmmm….no. Heroes went down in ratings because the show’s quality went to crap, and it’s on life support? It’s still one of NBC’s highest rated shows, if you wanna talk about a good show on life support talk about Chuck. Also, if audiences are fickle when it comes to super-heroes why did Iron Man and The Dark Knight do so well in the theaters last year?
Regardless of genre, it’s all in the writing. But we need a well-done and serious hero show. We’re still waiting for that in prime time television.
The title of the show and the codename for the superhero bode ill for this show. The Cape is a synechdoche, a metaphor in which the part stands for the whole. When this is used as a metaphor to refer to superheroes (as in Astro City and other series; similar to the use of “mask” to refer to superheroes or “powers” in the comic book Powers) it makes sense because they are referring to a whole class of people. And if the show was called “Capes” that would make sense because it would essentially be the same as saying “Heroes.” But a superhero named “The Cape” is like having a superhero named “The Hero”–the codename doesn’t say anything about him other than that he’s a superhero. It doesn’t convey his character/personality (like Superman, who is a super man) or his biography (like Batman, who took his name from the bat that flew in his window).
So I don’t think they’ve thought it through very well, and that suggests it’ll be a failure. Maybe I can get some consulting work though.