HOURMAN TV Show Might Get A DIAL H Twist

A couple weeks ago, we learned that the CW would be adapting Hourman for their television block. Naturally, we assumed it would follow the comic book roots and feature Rex Tyler (or his son) as he fights crime with the aid of the super-drug Miraclo, which gives the user enhanced strength and speed for one hour. Now, Bleeding Cool is reporting that the show might be taking inspiration from another DC property. According to their source, the drug Miraclo will still be used, but it will have a different effect.

Because the proposal is that the drug Miraco from the comic book series, in the TV show will have a different effect on each person who takes it, summoning different powers and abilities based on their personality, enhancing existing talents or abilities tenfold, but with terrible side effects.

And a different person will get the powers each week…

This is very similar to the recent Dial H series (a reboot of Dial H for Hero), which had a mysterious phone booth that would give people superpowers and a superhero identity when they dialed H-E-R-O. Eventually the users would revert back to normal, and if they reused the booth, they would given a new superhero identity and different powers.

This is an interesting blending of two unrelated properties. I was already expecting watch a typical superhero show (not that there’s anything wrong with those), but if this rumor is correct, the show seems to be taking inspiration from the Vertigo series 100 Bullets, with a different person each week being affected by the same plot device. While that worked well as a book, if it ends up moving forward, the show runners need to be careful with how they portray this.

Shows like the Twillight Zone worked by having different characters each episode, but for a show like Hourman, it’s important that they establish continuity to the series. Much like how Agent Graves was the uniting factor in 100 Bullets, Hourman would need to have a recurring character or element that would connect these seemingly random users together. That way, as I would imagine it, we would eventually learn how and why Miraclo was created.

One question: if the effects of the drug last longer than four hours, should the users go see a doctor? I mean, if it was prescribed that’s a different story, but…

SOURCE: Bleeding Cool