A blue-suited hero is ready to make his much-anticipated TV return. Amazon revealed Wednesday that The Tick will premiere on August 25, giving the character’s cult following another reason to look forward to summer.
A reboot of the 1994 animated series of the same name, The Tick now has a different look. Amazon’s version is live-action, so we’ll get to see star Peter Serafinowicz (Guardians of the Galaxy) donning the satirical superhero’s antennaed attire as he tries to take down an evil supervillain with the help of a regular human accountant with mental health issues (played by Griffin Newman). The reboot is not totally new to some fans, though; The Tick was previously tested during Amazon’s pilot season before the online retail giant gave the series a full-season order.
The original Tick was created by Ben Edlund in 1986, first as a satirical character for a comic book shop’s newsletter. As the superhero’s popularity grew, though, so did his reach. The Tick soon became the star of his own comic book series, and then later the animated TV series, which ran for three seasons. A live-action version — also called The Tick — followed in 2001, with nine episodes. Edlund worked on both prior series, and he also serves as a writer and executive producer for Amazon’s reboot.
Edlund isn’t the only Tick vet involved with the reboot. Barry Sonnenfeld, who directed the first live-action version, is executive producing as well as Barry Josephson. Wally Pfister has taken over the director’s chair for the reboot, which is a co-production with Sony Pictures Television.
Along with Serafinowicz and Newman, the reboot also stars Jackie Earle Haley, Valorie Curry, Yara Martinez, and Brendan Hines. They’ll be along for the ride when The Tick premieres August 25 on Amazon Prime Video.