John Ridley On His Mysterious Marvel Project: "The Marvel Project Is Still Very Much Alive"

Earlier today, ABC Studios president Paul Lee gave an update on Marvel’s Most Wanted, confirming reports from back in August that a pilot had been ordered for the show. At the same time, he was asked about two other projects that have long been rumored to be in development on the network – Damage Control, which has actually received a put-pilot commitment, and the mysterious John Ridley project. Lee played coy about both, choosing instead to act as though Most Wanted was the only other Marvel project currently being developed for the network. Of course, that didn’t necessarily mean that both Damage Control and Ridley’s project were dead, and Ridley himself took the time to confirm as much himself.

In an interview with the folks over at IGN, Ridley was asked about the status of his long in-development project and whether it was still moving forward, or if talks had stalled. Per Ridley, the show is still very much alive, even if ABC isn’t talking about it at the moment.

“The Marvel project is still very much alive,” he said, declining to offer more clarification than that it’s “still in development.” Ridley also denied that his new ABC detective drama pilot Presence is related to this Marvel series.

Given that it is still in development, it’s likely the reason we haven’t heard too much about it. That should change, however, come May when ABC officially announces their pick-ups and renewals. It’s more than likely that’s also when we’ll learn the fates of both Damage Control and Marvel’s Most Wanted.

Although Ridley didn’t really offer up much news regarding his project – which we still don’t know a working title for or what it involves – he did say that he hopes to bring some “reflective sensibility” to his project.

“You look at Jessica Jones, and [Marvel’s] doing an interesting job of integrating [social consciousness],” Ridley said. “I would say in general, graphic novels, their reason for existence is a little different. It’s about wish fulfillment, whether you’re talking about Peter Parker, a young, misunderstood kid trying to figure out his way; if you’re talking about Bruce Wayne, a man who’s dealing with the loss of his parents; whether you’re talking about Clark Kent, an orphan who’s trying to figure out what he’s meant to do without the guidance of his parents.

“That’s not unusual for the graphic novel space, so I would just say I hope that I would bring an appropriate amount of reflective sensibility to whatever project I may or may not be involved with in the Marvel universe. But I do want it to be entertaining in its own right. American Crime is its own thing, I hope to continue with American Crime. I would relish the opportunity to work in spaces where it really is about straight entertainment.”

For now, we’ll just have to eagerly watch the trades for any news regarding these in development projects at ABC.

Source: IGN.