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Here's Our First Look at the Royal Family in Marvel's Inhumans

Pictured: (From Left to Right) Eme Ikwuakor (Gorgon), Ken Leung (Karnak), Anson Mount (Black Bolt), Serinda Swan (Medusa), Isabelle Cornish (Crystal), Iwan Rheon (Maximus)

This fall, Marvel will finally be releasing a proper Inhumans series, just not in the way they initially planned. After delaying the Inhumans film indefinitely (originally slated for a 2019 release), Marvel Entertainment decided to bring the series to life on ABC — and on the big screen. Entertainment Weekly got an exclusive first look at the new television series.

For the uninitiated, Inhumans are a race of human-alien hybrids who have undergone a transformative “terrigenesis.” If that word sounds familiar, Chloe Bennet‘s character on Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. underwent the same process that unlocked her quake powers. Terrigenesis yields different results for different humans carrying Kree DNA inside them. Some simply gain super powers while others are completely transformed into something else.

“It was an exciting proposition,” said showrunner Scott Buck (Iron Fist) on tackling the series’ challenges, which include visual an effects-heavy character like Medusa (Serinda Swan) who has the power to control her hair and use it as another limb. There’s also the one-ton teleporting bulldog named Lockjaw. But Buck stresses it won’t be an SFX extravaganza. “We approach these [characters] all as real people who just happen to have these abilities, so they’re all very grounded.”

Inhumans will take place both on Earth and in the technologically advanced city Attila, from which the Royal Family hail from in the comics. The leader of the group is Black Bolt (Anson Mount), whose voice causes devastating destruction.

“It’s a little bit difficult to write him, because Black Bolt does not speak, but yet he is our hero and the center of the show, so it does certainly present challenges in how you tell his story,” said Buck. Mount revealed to EW that Black Bolt will use sign language, choosing his words carefully when he does speak.

Here's Our First Look at the Royal Family in Marvel's Inhumans

Inhumans won’t exactly by a spin-off of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., per se, but it definitely will inhabit the same Marvel Cinematic Universe. “Things that have happened on S.H.I.E.L.D. will potentially affect our show as well,” Buck said. He played coy on the subject of a crossover, but considering how much of an impact the Inhumans have made on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. already, it’s difficult to believe even Daisy (Chloe Bennet) will stay away for too long. Overall, Inhumans intends to stand on its own.

In the comics, Black Bolt battles to keep his crown while his brother Maximus plans to usurp him. On the show, Maximus will be played by everyone second favorite sadistic psychopath from Game of Thrones, Iwan Rheon. “We were so thrilled to get Iwan,” Buck said. “We didn’t want to create just a simple villain who’s evil for the sake of being evil. Our Maximus is a different, more complicated, more real, and more compelling version.”

The first two episodes of Marvel’s Inhumans were shot entirely with IMAX digital cameras in preparation for a big screen premiere on September 1, 2017, ahead of its television debut on ABC. “The first two episodes feel like a movie, because [using IMAX] gave us a lot more freedom and encouraged us to think bigger than we would if it was just a normal network show,” Buck said.

Inhumans star Eme Ikwuakor (Gorgon), Ken Leung (Karnak), Anson Mount (Black Bolt), Serinda Swan (Medusa), Isabelle Cornish (Crystal), Iwan Rheon (Maximus). For more behind-the-scenes scoop, head on over to Entertainment Weekly where they also get to interview the cast.

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Christina E. Janke

Christina is the co-host of “Intro to Geek” on Shauncastic and Editor-in-Chief at Agents of Geek. Her love of all things Mass Effect knows no bounds. She also carries an obsession with comic books, video games, and quirky television shows. Her heroes are Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, and Gail Simone. She hopes to be just like them when she grows up.