The New Crime Thriller Netflix Hit Is Based On DC Comic
When viewers think “based on a comic book,” they think of capes and big beams of energy shooting out of a character’s hands. Bodies the hottest new series on Netflix, has neither of those. A testament to the fact that comic books are a medium and not a genre, the Netflix-produced show is based on a DC graphic novel of the same name.
Bodies Is A Crime Thriller Based On The Dark DC Comic
Bodies is a British crime thriller created for Netflix by Paul Tomalin, a writer who has worked on the Doctor Who spinoff Torchwood as well as the US version of the long-running dramedy Shameless. Tomalin created the show for Netflix based on a 2014 limited series produced by DC’s more adult imprint Vertigo. Vertigo has long been the home for DC projects that fall outside the usual cape and mask stuff. Series like Sandman, Preacher, and Fables were all relegated to DC’s offbeat Vertigo label.
Bodies Is A Hit Among Critics And General Audiences
Bodies premiered on Netflix earlier this month and is already garnering a strong buzz. The series, which revolves around four detectives in four different time periods investigating the same murder, is currently sitting pretty on Rotten Tomatoes with a respectable 82 percent critic score and a slightly lower 80 percent audience score. Despite all of the positive reviews, a Bodies Season 2 is highly unlikely.
Don’t Expect A Second Season On Neflix
The series is currently listed as a limited series, much like its comic book counterpart. That means the intent from the start was to make a predetermined amount of episodes and then peace out. “We went to Netflix like, ‘this is one series, this is a one and done, we wanna close this off,” said Tomalin when discussing Bodies limited run on Netflix.
The creator went on to say that he abhors cliffhangers and feels like there’s “a duty to an audience,” to provide a concrete ending to what he calls a “propulsive” story. Of course, pop culture fans know that often, when one-off projects like, say, 2019’s Joker perform ridiculously well and earn a ton of money, they tend to spawn sequels regardless of the creator’s original intention.
Obviously, we don’t know Paul Tomalin enough to say for certain if he would be willing to change his mind or not if the price is right, but we know Hollywood well enough to bet on him doing so if Bodies proves to be a particularly lucrative IP for Netflix.
Netflix Has Adapted Other Dark DC Comics With Success
The Bodies graphic novel has been out of print for a while, but with the show’s success on Netflix, DC is reprinting it. Amazon already has the comic up for sale on their website. Bodies is just the latest DC adaptation to find at home on Netflix rather than Max, as one would expect. Sweet Tooth, which is on its second season, and last year’s Sandman were both adapted from not just DC properties but Vertigo titles specifically.
Expect More Graphic Novel Adaptations From Netflix In The Future
It’s clear that Netflix has been positioning itself as the place to go for dark, unconventional comic book adaptations for some time now. Aside from Bodies and the other DC properties, Netflix has adapted indie graphic novels The End of the F***ing World, and I Am Not Okay With This, both from alternative comics creator Charles Forsman. Those titles, coupled with the underrated 2019 post-apocalyptic black comedy Daybreak, prove that Netflix has become the home for content based on alternative graphic novels.
