HBO Max will expand its original DC productions with an adult animated show of the Legion of Super-Heroes developed by comic book writer Brian Bendis. In his latest newsletter (via Bleeding Cool), Bendis revealed he has been discussing the project with HBO Max for a while, and that development on the animated series has already started.
Created by Otto Binder and Al Plastino for 1958’s Adventure Comics #247, the Legion of Super-Heroes is a DC superteam living in the 30th and 31st centuries. The team is frequently involved with DC’s central Justice League through time-travel shenanigans. A new series written by Bendis and drawn by Ryan Sook debuted in November 2019 to great critical acclaim. That’s why HBO Max decided to give the writer the opportunity of turning his comic books series into an animated show. As Bendis tells it:
“So, miracle of miracles, HBO then asked what else I would want to do and if there's any DC properties I thought would make an interesting show. I may have yelled the word LEGION louder than you want to in a normal adult person business meeting. So yeah, the headline today is… HBO Max has put me to work on a LEGION OF SUPERHEROES TV SHOW. At the moment it is being developed as an adult animated show. Can you tell I am jumping up and down about this? I've been working on it for a while and last week I was sent to the next phase.”
Bendis warns fans the project is still in the early stages of development and that “animation takes a loooong time so you may not hear anything about this for a while as I'm just getting to work on it over the break.” However, the writer is excited to share the news and can already confirm the animated series will adapt the stories he has been working on for DC comics in the last couple of years. In Bendis words:
“Facts: its very early goings but I can tell you this will be an adaptation of the Legion of superheroes that Ryan Sook and I have been working on the last few years. And just like that series, on sale now, it will harken back to so many classics while at the same time doing what Legion does: pushing all the ideas of superheroes forward in every direction.”
There’s no release window for Bendi’s Legion of Super-Heroes adult animated show. However, since the writer underlines the project is still at its early stages, we shouldn’t expect it to premiere before 2023. As news from the Legion of Super-Heroes series emerges, you can expect to read all about it here at Collider.