The Tick is back in all his blue-suited muscle-bound glory
Last week, I argued that the problem with The Defenders is that the show lacks a charismatic, capable villain. The heroes, of course, necessarily defend the weak and downtrodden, making them easier to like, and their allure is rooted in how their powers inform their ability to do so.
But heroes are different shades of the same color, and that color tends to exist on the bland side of the color palette. A hero is only as good as the villain he faces. If you look at the successful most Marvel and DC films, you’ll find Heath Ledger’s Joker, Alfred Molina’s Doctor Octopus, and Sebastian Stan’s Winter Soldier.
On the smaller screen, you’ll see David Tennant’s The Purple Man (Kilgrave) and the indomitable Vincent D’Onofrio as Kingpin. But can you remember the name of the villain in Ant-Man? In Iron Man 3? Those films lacked a strong villain and as a result don’t have a strong presence in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
It’s interesting, then, how Amazon’s newest send up of the comic book genre understands the importance of a villain, creating a fun gallery of rogues despite the silly title character. The Tick might not be anything new—superhero parodies have been around for a long time and this one is the second live action attempt at recreating the magic of the animated Fox series from 1994—but the show is more fun than The Defenders by great blue leaps and bounds.
Most anyone born after 1980 will remember the character known as The Tick, a muscle bound, dimwitted insect based superhero powered by drama that protected the City alongside his tax accountant sidekick Arthur. Tick was also played, expertly by the way, by Patrick Warburton in a short lived live action series in 2001.
The revival of the character, and the show, seemed unlikely, but Amazon ordered a pilot during last year’s pilot season and Prime viewers voted to have the full series created. The 2017 revival focuses on Arthur (Griffin Newman), again a tax accountant, who witnessed the death of his father at the hands of The Terror (Jackie Earl Haley) as a young child.
As a result, Arthur suffers from paranoia and post-traumatic stress, which can sometimes manifest itself through hallucinations. While the Terror was supposedly killed by superhero Superian (Brenden Hines) many years earlier, Arthur is convinced that he survived and is determined to prove it. Through a few comic book coincidences, Arthur finds himself attached to the Tick (Peter Serafinowicz) and in possession of a fancy supersuit that looks like a moth.
The main characters, however, are not the best part of the show. How could they be? The original Tick series was full of a colorful and hilarious cast of villains and superheroes and this version is no different. As mentioned, Jackie Earl Haley is spectacular as The Terror, reminding us that villains don’t kill people because they’re mad at them—they kill people because it’s fun.
His henchman Ms. Lint (Yara Martinez), an electrically charged femme fatale with a grounding problem and a tendency to attract airborne debris, is equally entertaining. Smaller villains like the Pyramid Gang, led Ramses IV (a guy from Minnesota with a penchant for Egyptian bric-a-brac) make for excellent fodder when facing off against the nigh-invulnerable Wild Blue Yonder.
But these characters only scratch the surface of the heroes and villains found in the Tick Universe. That the current series only utilizes one from the past incarnations is something of a disappointment. Also disappointing is the limited number of episodes in the first season.
With a twenty-five-minute running time, it’s easy to binge watch the six episode series in a single afternoon. Hopefully, the show will be popular enough to warrant a second, more complete season, with lots of new characters to flesh out. For now, fans will have to be happy with what they get.
Slowly but surely, Amazon is gaining ground on Netflix in terms of original content. They aren’t spending as much, but if they can maintain the quality as well as continue to include viewers in its decision making process, they may be able to even the playing field. Given what comes with an Amazon Prime membership, it’s hard to argue against having one. The Tick is just one more reason.