Another Dark Female Superhero Show Is In The Works

Jessica Jones co-creator and Marvel comic writer Brian Michael Bendis is bringing another one of his badass female superheroes to television. Bendis couldn't keep the project under wraps for too long, breaking the news at Austin's ATX Television Festival he said, "I do a book called Scarlet which is soon to be announced also in our universe of television. Not announced yet, but HBO." The writer is talking about Marvel's Scarlet Rue, a young Portland, Oregon resident who sparks an American Revolution. But who is Scarlet Rue, exactly? The character's fairly new in origin, but it's already looking like she might be a huge hit for TV.

Scarlet was created by Bendis along with artist Alex Maleev and has been published by Marvel Comics’ Icon imprint since 2010. Currently, the series only has eight issues, all set in Oregon. Bendis said of the character, "Scarlet is a list of things you can’t get made. Here’s a female lead who’s killing cops because her world is broken. [But] when it was sold, it was sold to people who were actively looking for that, so that put us in a good place.”

If you count the success of Jessica Jones , then he's right. We're in a good place for more female leads who live in "broken worlds." So, please sir, bring 'em on.

The Scarlet comics are known for their violence and grim tone. As they follow an idealist who becomes fed up with the state of the American government, Scarlet ends up accidentally leading a revolution. She meets like-minded individuals along the way, and often breaks the fourth wall to address the reader directly, much like Deadpool.

Considering the anarchist plot of the comics, the Scarlet adaption could get pretty violent. How far the series will push those boundaries, it's not clear — but the Scarlet series will be on HBO's sibling network, Cinemax (as confirmed by Deadline), so the showrunners will certainly have the capacity create mature content. Given the popularity of Deadpool's R-rated big screen adaptation, and Netflix's own success with the graphic Defenders universe, Scarlet's grittiness should be welcome with open arms.

Adding another female lead show to the canon of mostly male superheroes feels like another win, as Jessica Jones made waves for being both progressive in its handling of female characters and storyline. If Scarlet can take what Jessica Jones did even further, then I'd say yeah, as Bendis pointed out, I'm actively looking for that kind of show.

Images: Marvel Comics; Giphy