Adventure into Fear (franchise)

Adventure into Fear was a set of American television series planned for the streaming service Hulu, based on characters that appear in publications by Marvel Comics. Produced by Marvel Television and ABC Signature Studios, they were to be standalone series sharing the "same universe" as Marvel's other series but would not cross over with the films and television series of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).

Following the cancellation of all Marvel's Netflix television series, Hulu ordered a set of interconnected new series from Marvel based on fear-focused Marvel properties in May 2019. Labelled "Adventure into Fear", the series included Ghost Rider—starring Gabriel Luna, reprising his role from ABC's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.—and Helstrom, though Ghost Rider was dropped during development. Helstrom stars Tom Austen and Sydney Lemmon, and debuted in October 2020, ultimately being disconnected from the MCU. Several more series were in development for the banner, but Marvel Television stopped work on these when it was folded into Marvel Studios in December 2019. Helstrom was canceled a year later in December 2020.

Development

Abandoned projects

Ghost Rider

On the Texas–Mexico border, Robbie Reyes avenges the innocent by unleashing the demonic Ghost Rider.

During development on the fourth season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Marvel suggested that the series introduce Ghost Rider, after the character's film rights had returned to Marvel from Sony Pictures in May 2013. The Robbie Reyes version of the character was chosen over other versions from the comics due to his family values, and to help the series distance itself from Sony's Ghost Rider films that starred Nicolas Cage as the Johnny Blaze version of the character. Gabriel Luna was announced to be playing Reyes at the 2016 San Diego Comic-Con. A month later, Marvel Television head Jeph Loeb said the character "could venture into other sections" of the MCU, depending on the audience's response to his appearance in S.H.I.E.L.D. Luna expressed interest in reprising his role outside of the series, adding that he "signed on the line to do all the work necessary". That October, Luna said there had been "rumblings" about a spin-off for the character, but reiterated that it would depend on audience response, though Marvel Television had been keen on a spin-off "almost instantly after the character debuted", executing the hold clause in Luna's contract then to ensure he would be available for any such project.

Hulu ordered Ghost Rider to series in May 2019, with Ingrid Escajeda set as showrunner and executive producer alongside Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Paul Zbyszewski and Loeb, and Luna reprising his role. Luna reiterated how the series had been in development for some time and he had remained contracted for almost three years with the promise that it would eventually be made. Luna also believed that the announced acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney helped provide momentum to finally announce the series. Rather than being a traditional spin-off from S.H.I.E.L.D., Hulu described the series as a new story that "lives unto its own" but is about the same character. The series was set to be a co-production between Marvel Television and ABC Signature Studios. Escajeda was drawn to the series' conflicted characters and horror tone, and said that she would be targeting both existing fans of the property and general audiences with the series. In July, Loeb said the series would reference Reyes's role in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Luna said he had a "really awesome idea" for the series that would have kept Reyes in Los Angeles, and he hoped to include traditional Ghost Rider comic book villains such as Lilith, Mother of All Demons. She would have been introduced before her appearance in the Adventure into Fear crossover event. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. visual effects supervisor Mark Kolpack was approached to serve in the same role on Ghost Rider, but ultimately passed because of the series' budgetary restraints. In September, Hulu chose not to move forward with the project due to creative differences. Luna said this news was surprising and he had been "ready to rock" on the series, with pre-production underway including sets being built and scripts being written; Ken Kristensen had been working as a writer and consulting producer on the series, and Dave Blass was set as production designer. Luna said the cancelation was "the nature of this business" and he had "the time of [his] life" playing the character already.

Other

Loeb stated in August 2019 that there were several "Adventure into Fear" series being developed for Hulu that had not yet been announced, and reiterated this in October. At least two additional series were in development, with the plan to have the four series crossover in a Defenders-style event, with Lilith, Mother of All Demons serving as the antagonist. Marvel had registered trademarks for "Glyph" and "Spirits of Vengeance" by this time. However, by December 2019 Marvel Television was no longer developing new series.[1]

italic title	no
genre	Superhero
based on	Characters published by Marvel Comics
country	United States
language	English
num series	1
num episodes	10
executive producer	Joe Quesada Karim Zreik Jeph Loeb
network	Hulu
released	October 16, 2020

Adventure into Fear (franchise)

Development

Helstrom (2020)

Abandoned projects

Ghost Rider

Other

See also

References