Entertainment Weekly released a first look at “Marvel’s Inhumans,” the studio’s latest foray into television, and it’s not going over so well.
The interview with showrunner Scott Buck doesn’t reveal much more than what we already knew about the show, but it does provide the first official picture of the group known as the Inhuman Royal Family, which will star in ABC’s eight-episode show.
The show follows the family, which features — from left to right — Gorgon (Eme Ikwuakor), Karnak (Ken Leung), Black Bolt (Anson Mount), Medusa (Serinda Swan), Crystal (Isabelle Cornish), and Maximus (Iwan Rheon). Each are Inhumans, or superpowered humans descended from aliens and possess sometimes catastrophic abilities.
The main criticism of the photo on the internet, which you can check out above, seems to focus on the costumes, which look cheap. Some people compared them to things you’d find in a Halloween store or a Hot Topic.
The costumes in The Inhumans are worse than I could have imagined. This is some discount halloween store shit. pic.twitter.com/DjE2jIuavE
— Liam (@liamrobertson.bsky) (@Doctor_Cupcakes) May 4, 2017
Others who were more familiar with the comics noted that while Marvel likes to ground its more ridiculous hero costumes for more practical pieces, they did a poor job here. James Whitbrook of io9 gave an example of one Marvel could’ve used instead.
Also a reminder that the Inhumans show had the perfect "grounded" Karnak costume from the Ellis/Zaffino run to emulate and they didn't pic.twitter.com/jgOGwAVVau
— James Whitbrook (@Jwhitbrook) May 4, 2017
Some people took the look at face value, noting that the low-budget feel could’ve been intentional.
Does anyone else kinda love that the #Inhumans look like they just stepped out of a low-budget, short-lived sci-fi series form the 1990s?
— William Bibbiani (@WilliamBibbiani) May 4, 2017
However, the bulk of the criticism seems to center around Medusa, who has the ability to move and control her hair. In the comics, her hair is drawn as her most prominent feature, standing large and with a life of its own. In the photo, it looks more like normal hair, or a bad wig.
Chanel vs. Walmart#Inhumans pic.twitter.com/UHeFnZzczm
— David (@dhauxx) May 4, 2017
Guys I think Marvel needs to fire their wig guy. pic.twitter.com/V8kYg0ufMz
— Hoai-Tran Bui (@htranbui) May 4, 2017
Since this is a still — and Medusa’s hair hasn’t been treated with special effects yet, as Buck mentions in the interview — maybe it’ll look better once it’s treated and in motion.
Expectations didn’t stop people from going all in though on comparisons and jokes.
https://twitter.com/happiiw/status/860149744164773888
https://twitter.com/hellocookie/status/860155894679601152
https://twitter.com/fourhman/status/860168639219105792
before vs after seeing that inhumans cast picture pic.twitter.com/MHIneNUoFN
— ris ✰ (@brxthersjonas) May 4, 2017
But in the end, this is just an Entertainment Weekly photo. We’ll have to hold our judgment until the show premieres in September on ABC and in IMAX.
I'm going to wait to see #Inhumans before I judge it.
The photo looks really bad but that can change once the they are on TV.— Mr. Bat-man 🇨🇦 (@KnightWing19) May 4, 2017
I'm not digging the Inhumans costumes but most look stiff in staged EW shots. They'll look better in motion, with the right lighting. Relax.
— @alishagrauso.bsky.social (@AlishaGrauso) May 4, 2017