Marvel's The Inhumans Heading to TV, Hitting Theaters First

Although Marvel likes to announce its movie line-up well in advance, the schedule regularly changes, with dates changed, new films added and sometimes removed. The Inhumans was originally set for a 2018 release, but it has now been revealed that the project is heading to TV instead.

The company has announced that The Inhumans will debut September 2017. Unusually, the show will receive a worldwide two-week theatrical release at the start of the month, ahead of its broadcast on ABC.

The series will be shot with IMAX cameras, and IMAX are co-financing. This is the first time that the large-format company has been involved with a TV production. The version that will play in theaters will be a special edit of the first two episodes, and Marvel has stated that once the show moves to TV it will contain "additional exclusive content."

"This unprecedented alliance represents a bold, innovative approach to launching great TV content for a worldwide audience," Ben Sherwood, Disney Media Networks president said in a statement. "It highlights Disney and ABC's unrelenting commitment to finding new and creative ways to showcasing our very best programming and increasing global engagement and reach."

The Inhumans movie was first announced in 2014, but this was before the standalone Spider-Man film and Ant-Man and The Wasp had been added to Marvel's movie line-up. In addition, the story of the genetically-created superhero race has already been explored on TV in Agents of SHIELD.

Although Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige insisted earlier this year that an Inhumans movie would still happen, it is not surprising that the decision has now been made to move it to TV.

The Inhumans were created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and first appeared in a 1965 issue of Fantastic Four. Led by hypersonically-voiced Black Bolt, their first self-titled comic line ran from 1975 to 1977. They have subsequently appeared in a variety of limited and ongoing series over the past four decades.