Marvel Comics
I remember the conversation vividly. I don’t exactly remember who it was with, but I do remember the content. It was around the time that Marvel announced their deal with Netflix, a clear indication that they would be expanding their television presence beyond Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. I remember being introduced to Damage Control, a comic group introduced in the late-1980s. The story revolved around a fictional construction company tasked with repairing property damage caused by conflicts between heroes and villains within the Marvel universe. It’s a goofy concept – fodder for comedy – but also what I imagine was the result of a fun thought experiment: what happens when the fighting ends and a city must rebuild? I want to know all about the people who come in later.
Damage Control, in my mind, has always been the perfect concept for a television series. It’s the kind of series that can exist alongside all of Marvel’s other existing properties without ever having to include any marquee characters. It can also be crafted into an interesting workplace comedy. Think The Office, but with more strange alien goop.
This is exactly what Marvel and ABC have in mind, as they are putting a Damage Control show into production with the help of The Daily Show alum Ben Karlin. According to The Wrap, ABC “has given a put-pilot commitment to “Damage Control,” a half hour, single camera comedy that follows the overworked, underpaid, clean up crew of the Marvel Universe.”
Karlin, who also worked on The Colbert Report and Modern Family, will work alongside David Miner, a veteran of Brooklyn Nine Nine, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Parks and Recreation and 30 Rock. Basically, here are two guys who have been around the best single camera comedy work of the last decade, making a fun show about Marvel clean-up crews.
While I wish it were destined for Netflix (more creative freedom for them, more binge-watching for me), it should fit nicely on ABC, as well. Either way, Damage Control is easily the most fun concept that Marvel has going.