Is Marvel developing Power Pack as a Disney+ series? The superpowered family from the comics has been part of the conversation for Marvel Studios for years. But based on a new listing, Power Pack might be back on the attack on a streaming platform near you.
Our usual caveat here because the listing comes from this week’s issue of Production Weekly. The online magazine lists production info for movies and TV shows so those who work behind the scenes can reach out for potential jobs. However, PW is very open about the fact that they don’t vet listings… They’re there as a resource, and that’s it. So sometimes they’re right on the money, like when they listed Transformers/G.I. Joe a day before the movie was announced at CinemaCon. Other times, the projects never come to fruition.
That said, it’s surprising to see Power Pack pop up out of nowhere, as this isn’t something that — as far as I can tell — has popped up recently on the rumor mill. The listing itself is bare bones. It lists Power Pack as in development as a Disney+ series, and Marvel chief Kevin Feige as a producer. No writers, directors, cast, etc, so perhaps it’s only entered early conversations, if at all. The synopsis PW uses is sourced directly from Marvel’s page for the 2020 version of the series, so that doesn’t provide actual info.
If you’re not familiar (and full disclosure here, I once wrote a Power Pack miniseries for Marvel Comics), Power Pack is Julie, Alex, Jack, and Katie Power, four siblings given powers by an alien who crash lands on Earth — and needs their help to fight back other, villainous aliens. At least initially in the comics, they also had to fight evil while keeping their superhero identities secret from their parents.
So you can probably see the appeal there, as an all-ages series. In fact, back in 1991, a pilot was produced for a live-action Power Pack TV series. However, it never moved forward at NBC (where it was developed), moved to Fox Kids, was broadcast a few times as a special, and that was it.
Cut to 2000, and Artisan Entertainment made a deal with Marvel to produce movies and shows from a number of properties. That deal included a Captain America movie, a Thor TV show, and movies based on Black Panther, Deadpool, Iron Fist, Morbius, Longshot, Mort the Dead Teenager, Ant-Man, and Power Pack.
The Artisan deal went away once Marvel started looking into financing their own films, leading to the MCU. But once again, Power Pack was supposed to be one of the first out of the gate for the MCU. It wasn’t, FYI. But even as recently as 2018, Marvel had still shown interest in Power Pack.
“Power Pack is a property that we’ve been interested in for a long time,” Feige told ScreenRant at the junket for Ant-Man and the Wasp. “For many years because we wanted to do something for families, something that’s a little younger, Ant-Man has kind of become that franchise, certainly with Ant-Man and the Wasp, but Power Pack still is one of the many things that we discuss, wouldn’t it be fun to do someday?”
So is today — or very soon — that day? Particularly with Marvel Studios diversifying into animation, they could do a series in the style of Gurihiru (the artists frequently associated with the characters). Or perhaps it’s time to go back to live-action.
We’ll have to wait and see — but fingers crossed that after 30 plus years, Power Pack gets more than one episode.
