AI Reimagines Marvel As A Dark Fantasy Movie

We’ve already seen a version of it in Marvel’s «What If…?» animated series, but there was a time when Neil Gaiman, creator of the revered standalone story, «Marvel: 1602,» tried to have it brought to life as a live-action television show. On X (formerly known as Twitter), he responded to a question about a potential adaptation by revealing, «I asked Marvel TV about me making ‘1602’ [in 2018], but they weren’t interested. Such a pity.»

While a handful of Marvel TV shows were canceled before they were even made, the mighty superhero factory didn’t entertain Gaiman’s idea. Had he got the green light, we may have seen a world set in an alternate Earth in the Marvel universe with familiar heroes and villains established in an Elizabethan era. The comic takes place in Earth-311, home to Sir Nicholas Fury, a spy working for Queen Elizabeth I, who learns that things in their world aren’t as they should be. The story was lightly adapted in «What If…?» Season 2, Episode 8 — «What If… the Avengers Assembled in 1602?» Proving that it could work off the page. Perhaps, given the various alternate realities we’re being thrown into, one set in 1602 could happen eventually.

For a fix of swords and sorcery, check Looper’s 30 Best Fantasy Movies of the ’80s Ranked.