SDCC 2011: From Mockingbird to Miss Marvel, MARVEL TV Is Keeping Busy

At Comic-Con today, Jeph Loeb and the gang from Marvel Television spoke at length about the projects they're cooking up, and apparently they're even busier than some of us may have realized.

As we speak, there are four live-action television series in active development, although all are still a long way from making it into the TV Guide. None of them are even at the Wonder Woman stage at this point. Still… as I type these words, I am watching Conan O'Brien eviscerate 1979's Captain America TV movie and breathing a deep sigh of relief that I live in a world where these characters get taken seriously and nobody half-asses it anymore.

As for those four series: we already know about Guillermo del Toro's Hulk for ABC, and we have heard whispers about Alias, now known as A.K.A. Jessica Jones for obvious reasons, also for ABC. Loeb revealed today the heretofore unrevealed detail that Jones will feature Luke Cage and Carol "Miss Marvel" Danvers as characters, which is great, if only because I for one can't imagine it without them. If they could find a way to work that Speedball cameo into season two, I'd consider it a personal favor. The new take on the Hulk sounds like they will be taking a back-to-basics approach, from a time when Bruce's curse was not public knowledge and even he didn't know all that he was capable of. I daresay it sounds a little Smallville-y, but what do I know?

Over at ABC Family, Marvel TV is working on one show we knew about and one that's news to us. Cloak & Dagger will feature the two teen heroes patrolling the streets of a post-Katrina New Orleans. Bobbi Morse will get her moment in the spotlight in the previously unannounced Mockingbird, which is being described as "[J.J. Abrams' TV] Alias meets Felicity," which I'm sure no one online will have any problem with. Let's talk more about that when it actually happens.

In addition to the live-action stuff, a few animated projects were also discussed. Ultimate Spider-Man will feature J.K. Simmons and Clark Gregg reprising their live-action roles as J. Jonah Jameson and Agent Coulson, respectively, while Chi McBride will be voicing Nick Fury. Spider-Man himself will be voiced by nine-time Nickelodeon Kid's Choice Award winner Drake Bell, whom I have never heard of because I am terribly, terribly old.

Also in development is Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H., a cartoon starring Hulks Green and Red along with She-Hulk, Skaar, and Rick "A-Bomb" Jones. Anyone currently reading The Incredible Hulks should get the idea. They're also working on an animated adaptation of Whedon and Cassaday's Astonishing X-Men run, a project which has Cassaday as a creative consultant.

How about that? Pretty exciting, no? I'd set my DVR for A.K.A. Jessica Jones right now if I could.