Does anyone remember M.A.N.T.I.S? In this episode of Gone But Not Forgotten, we take a look behind the scenes of this obscure mid-nineties superhero show.
Have you ever been given a gift and then seen it destroyed? For example, let’s say someone gave you a beautiful yacht. It looks amazing and has every amenity you could ever wish for. You take it out one day to sea, go home, and then when you come back it’s been painted green and had a creepy clown statue turned into the figurehead. When you ask why the person who gave you the yacht would do this to your beautiful boat, you’re told “Well I think it looks better this way”. Now imagine that’s a superhero TV show and that it was created by a pair of people who were behind two of the greatest comic book movies of all time.
So what was that TV show? Well, it was called M.A.N.T.I.S. and who were the two creators? Sam Raimi and Sam Hamm. Yes, the man behind the blockbuster Spider-Man movie and the other who originated the script for the Batman 1989 film. It should be a no-brainer that this show would be a hit right? So what went wrong?
M.A.N.T.I.S. was created by Sam Raimi and Sam Hamm. The origins of the character are a bit sketchy. All we know for sure is that in 1993 Fox approached Sam Raimi and Sam Hamm with the request to create a superhero show. A TV movie/pilot was commissioned and the script was finished and put into production. The lead of the TV movie was Carl Lumbly, who portrayed Dr. Miles Hawkins, AKA MANTIS. Miles was a genius who had been judgmental toward the poor black community. He felt little to no empathy for their suffering. This all changed when Hawkins was paralyzed during a riot. It was discovered that a police officer was the one who shot him in the back. He tries to sue the city for this but loses, giving him a dose of the reality that the system is not as perfect as he thought.
Racked with guilt for his arrogant and dismissive behavior toward those less fortunate than him, Miles creates a suit that gives him the ability to walk again. He also creates a powerful tranquilizer dart that freezes its victims. Plus he came up with one of the coolest superhero vehicles I have ever seen. It was like a cross between the batmobile and batwing. It could transform and morph into other vehicles.
Lumbly is an incredible actor with an extensive career since the early 1980s. One of his most memorable roles at the time was in the cult film The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension. Since M.A.N.T.I.S., Lumbly has since had a long career in film and television. I became a huge fan of him on Alias and he was amazing in House of Usher.
Carl was impressed by Sam Raimi and Sam Hamm’s script for M.A.N.T.I.S. and I can understand why. The TV movie was ahead of its time. It revolved around a television reporter Yuri Barnes played by Bobby Hosea and pathologist Dr. Amy Ellis played by the stunning Gina Torres. By the way, am I the only one who believes that Gina Torres just gets more beautiful as the years go by? Anyway, the rest of the cast was Steve James as a handsome inner city youth club manager named Antoine Pike, Wendy Raquel Robinson, and Christopher M. Brown as Miles’s protégés.
The TV movie was a ratings smash and was praised for its focus not only on its excellent action and special effects but also on its non-white cast. So the network commissioned the show and then changed everything that made the TV movie stand out. But what network would be stupid enough to take everything that made the show a success and chuck it? Well, the version of the show that finally made it to air and was ongoing was notably different than the hit TV movie. So what happened? Join us in the episode of Gone But Not Forgotten.