It was first rumored way back in September 2015, but evildoers are now officially on notice: The Tick is indeed coming back to television.
Amazon Studios has reportedly ordered a pilot for a new series based on Ben Edlund’s quirky comic-book superhero, and has already begun casting for the live-action project with Edlund serving as the writer and executive producer. Transcendence director Wally Pfister is expected to direct the pilot episode.
According to Deadline, Vinyl actor Griffin Newman will play The Tick’s partner, Arthur Everest, in the pilot episode for the series. Arthur’s sister, Dot, will be played by actress Valorie Curry (House of Lies, The Following). Patrick Warburton, who voiced the character in the Emmy-nominated The Tick animated series and played him in the 2001 live-action series that ran for a season on Fox, is not expected to reprise the role in the new series. However, Warburton is expected to serve as an executive producer on the series with Edlund.
Along with a new cast, Amazon’s iteration of The Tick is expected to kick things off in a way that might not actually ignore the two previous projects based on Edlund’s character. The series will reportedly follow the blue-suited Tick’s adventures while recovering from memory loss as he teams up with Arthur to fight evil. The latter finds himself back in action after being labeled a schizophrenic due to his belief that the city in danger from evil villains, and his sister finds herself worrying about Arthur’s sanity when he becomes entangled with The Tick again.
Created by Edlund in 1986, The Tick was initially conceived as the mascot for a comic book shop’s newsletter that embodied all of the tropes of the superhero genre to the point of absurdity. He was so popular that he ended up becoming the subject of his own independent comic-book series, and his adventures inspired a two-season animated series on FOX that earned a trio of Emmy nominations and two prestigious Annie Awards during its run. The series was later turned into a live-action series with a pilot directed by Men in Black filmmaker Barry Sonnenfeld. Both the animated series and live-action show went on to become big hits well after their original broadcast runs, and continue to be regarded as cult-classic shows that were canceled too soon.
There’s no word on when The Tick pilot is expected to begin filming, as casting is still underway for the series’ lead actor.
