So Spider-Man’s Broadway musical Turn Off The Dark is a thing.
But it’s a thing that grows curiouser in the fact that I think many people, especially on Marvel’s end and within the theater community are very interested to see how the little musical-that-almost-didn’t-happen fairs on the stage circuit; especially during a slump in Spider-Man related hype, with the last Spider-Man movie being miserable, a new video game coming out and yet another “reboot” on the way to spin Spider-Man back into his angsty teen roots.
This of course, like most things, paved the way for other things.
Things like The Intergalactic Nemesis: A Live Action Graphic Novel.
The stage version of The Intergalactic Nemesis projects the comic book artwork panel-by-panel while three actors perform the voices, one foley artist creates the sound effects, and one keyboardist plays the score, all live.
So comics made their way into literature, college curriculums, movies, video games, pop culture and “vintage” shirts all over the world. Now they’re making their way into theater. The Spider-Man musical seems ridiculous at best; a spectacle that will be seen more for the freak show aspect of it rather than genuine entertainment value. It will be a property that banks on curiosity and star power (All music written by Bono and The Edge of U2, directed by Julie Taymor of The Lion King fame).
This other bit though, is something different.
Intergalactic Nemisis seems more….viable. The fact that they’re not recreating the comics, but simply adding to them, giving them another dimension as it were, puts it on an altogether separate platform than Turn Off The Dark. Hopefully this will open the door for more well known comic performances. I would love to see a Live Action rendition of say Scud: The Disposable Assassin or Transmetropolitan.
It also reminds me of the film A Prairie Home Companion, which is fantastic.
Here’s episodes one of Nemesis in two parts below. Enjoy.
