The Inhumans first made their debut as part of a major story line in Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. The terrigen mist was even included and characters such as Quake were born from these unfortunate accidents that also resulted in some deaths in the team.
Off the back of this, the Inhumans TV show was launched with the main royal family taking center stage. The series was a massive flop and potentially the worst part of the MCU. Now that Kevin Feige is taking more control of the television side of Marvel, it may be that the Inhumans are reintroduced into the wider Marvel Cinematic Universe. Here are all the things ABC got wrong with the Inhumans and how the MCU could fix this.
10 POWERS
The Inhumans have a set of really distinct powers that make them stand out from other teams. Whether it's Black Bolt's deadly voice or Medusa's dangerous hair, the Inhumans really bring something different to the table. Unfortunately, ABC did not demonstrate this.
The showrunners decided to take many of the powers away from these heroes, presumably to put their backs up against the wall. This made the show less fun and created a poor representation of the characters. Cutting Medusa's hair or having Triton hit his head were poor decisions and misused the characters. The MCU can rectify this by heavily leaning in to what makes these characters more than human.
9 COSTUMES
The costumes also left a lot to be desired. For some characters, there appeared to be an attempt to faithfully adapt what's seen in the comics, while for others there was no real effort put into the design, with some characters clad in simple t-shirt, or maybe even a hoodie.
The MCU is amazing at creating authentic and realistic costumes. The teams that have worked on some of the other brilliant MCU properties could lend their hand to this project and give the Inhumans something to wear that's worthy of their royal titles.
8 ATTILAN
Attilan, much like Wakanda, is an iconic location in the Marvel universe. The hidden city on the moon should be awe-inspiring and make viewers want to explore more of it. Unfortunately, what we got from ABC was incredibly disappointing.
There seemed to be no real geography to the location, with just a few rooms being used for filming. Everything looked identical, grey and boring. It didn't feel cosmic, nor did it feel like an ancient civilization. There was really nothing memorable at all. Looking at other MCU locations, it's easy to see what they could do in the MCU if they were to rebuild Attilan.
7 EARTH
The Inhumans' relationship with Earth was a puzzling one. In the comics it appears that these people are just as at home on the planet as they are on the moon. They have a great knowledge of Earth and are understanding of the customs and its people.
ABC treated them like idiots when they stepped foot on the planet. The fish out of water story line played out quickly, with the characters coming off as stupid with every Earthly interaction. They'd spent years studying the planet and had even sent down spies yet didn't know the basic things about Earth's culture. If the MCU picks up where ABC finished, then the Inhumans would have a much better understanding of Earth.
6 TEAM
The Inhumans are both a family and a team. They are better when they are working together, with each one's strengths making up for another's weaknesses. Their victories and defeats are shared and it's one of the things that makes them so beloved.
The TV show completely missed the point of this and separated them all pretty early on. We never got proper interactions between the characters nor did we ever get to understand the relationships. Indeed, it was as if they didn't act as a team at all. The MCU can fix this by making sure they remain united.
5 TONE
The tone of the show was all wrong. There should be cosmic elements to the Inhumans as well as a little bit of drama. It should be a mix of Game of Thrones and one of the more cosmic MCU films. But this isn't what we got at all.
Instead, we got something that played more like a soap opera. With poor acting, cheap camera shots and a strange atmosphere, the tone was completely off from the start. The MCU can fix this by appropriately changing both the dialogue and the cinematography to fit the theme better.
4 ROYAL FAMILY
The Inhumans are well known for being a royal family. Black Bolt is a worthy and good king, surrounded by a family that supports him and their people. The TV show seemed to pit the people against the family, though, and the royals became unlikable to say the least.
In fact, in many ways the villain Maximus was a more gracious king, although he had his dark side as well. It made it very difficult to side with a particular character in this conflict. By making the royal family become much better leaders and by becoming one with their people, the MCU can fix this mistake.
3 WIDER UNIVERSE
There were absolutely no nods or mentions of a wider universe in the TV show. While there may have been a S.H.I.E.L.D. reference, that was the extent of this. The Inhumans' history is intertwined with so many other heroes in the MCU. To not even mention the universe is just wrong.
If they are being folded further into the MCU, though, then this can be fixed. The Inhumans have a great relationship with the X-Men for instance, so this could be one way to help link the two franchises, by having mutants understand the differences between themselves and the Inhumans.
2 LOCKJAW
The loyal pet of the Inhumans is the teleporting dog Lockjaw. This talented canine is a major part of the Inhumans and should have been a main focus of the show. In fact, they could have made him lovable enough to sell a lot of merch.
Instead, they decided to write him out of most episodes by having him sleep in a barn or get ill. This is probably due to budgetary constraints, but we barely got to know this amazing comic dog. The MCU will probably have a much larger budget and can invest in putting in a proper Lockjaw.
1 CONCLUSION
The conclusion of the show was incredibly disappointing. The conflict ended with Maximus getting locked on the Moon and the Inhumans having to live on Earth. This was supposed to be a huge status quo shift for a second season we'll never see. In doing so they continued to strip away everything about the Inhumans.
If the MCU is going to find success with this team, then they need to rebuild Attilan and have them travel between the two. They shouldn't be living on Earth for more shenanigans, as the tone will continue to plummet. If there is to be a full reboot then the focus should be on their civilization — which certainly shouldn't be destroyed!