Television

'Inhumans' Character Teasers Make Medusa's Hair Look Slightly More Human

inhumans character introduction
By Hoai-Tran Bui

Marvel's Inhumans continues barrelling down poorly-placed rails on its way to being a trainwreck, but you can't blame Marvel for trying to salvage the remains before the show debuts.

As the promotional rollout continues before Inhumans makes its IMAX run and ABC premiere in September, Marvel wants you to know the characters as more than just a pair of bad wigs and discount Syfy costumes. The new teaser melodramatically introduces the Royal Family and some other core characters, along with some new footage from the series where Medusa's hair doesn't look completely awful. Hooray?

There's trouble brewing in the Inhumans' Royal Family, who uneasily reside over the secret city of Attilan on the moon. The teaser pans over a shot of the moon before immediately diving into the who's who of the Royals, declaring in dramatic bold letters: Gorgon, The Guardian (Eme Ikwuakor); Karnak, The Visionary (Ken Leung); Auran, The Assassin (Sonya Balmores); Triton, The Operative (Mike Moh); Crystal, The Princess (Isabelle Cornish); Medusa, The Queen (Serinda Swan); Black Bolt, The King (Anson Mount); and Maximus, The Revolutionary (Iwan Rheon).

Like I said, brief, somewhat melodromatic character introductions that don't really tell us anything. The Good news is that Medusa's wig looks way better than the monstrosity we were introduced to in the last few trailers. Don't get me wrong, she and the rest of the Inhumans cast still look like they got their outfit from the storage units of the SyFy channel, but at least Medusa seems to have found a straight iron (though footage shown at Comic-Con didn't have any evidences of this improved wig)

The character intros are followed by flashes of new footage we've mostly never seen, including a drenched Triton and Crystal running through the Hawaiian jungle, a new Inhuman being transformed in front of a smiling Royal Family, Gorgon fighting soldiers in the jungle, Medusa and Black Bolt happily greeting their citizens, and Lockjaw — easily the saving grace of this hot mess of a show — transporting Gorgon and Crystal away. A few more fight scenes with Karnak and Medusa end the trailer, as well as Black Bolt's accidental grunt blowing away half a city block.

Inhumans follows the Royal Inhuman family that resides on the moon city of Attilan. But Maximus' coup results in the family going on the run in Hawaii, where they must hide their superpowers and nature. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has been laying the groundwork for Inhumans for the past two seasons, revealing that Chloe Bennett's Daisy Johnson is an Inhuman, now known as Quake. Inhumans will be the third Marvel series to premiere on ABC after S.H.I.E.LD., and the short-lived Agent Carter, but is set apart by its cheap effects and costumes, as well the tepid response from early screenings.

Unfortunately, the new teaser doesn't do much more to convince me that this series won't be a hot mess. While I'm happy that Medusa's hair isn't blindingly bad, the series still seems to be suffering from its quick, shoddy production so that it could make the bewildering IMAX premiere, as well as a showrunner, Scott Buck, who helmed the most-maligned Marvel series yet, Iron Fist.

Inhumans premieres in select IMAX theaters for a limited engagement on September 1. The season will then premiere and air the rest of its episodes on ABC starting on September 29.

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