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M.A.N.T.I.S.

Color M.A.N.T.I.S premiere ad
Every February, in both the US and Canada, there's a special designation for what is, unfortunately, the  shortest month of the year: African-American History Month (or simply Black History Month if you’re in Canada). While I don’t have a direct personal or familial connection to that community myself these days, I feel the blog should still spotlight thematically-appropriate media, especially media that we may remember fondly, but has largely been overlooked. For this post, we’ll be looking at one of the first African-American superheroes on TV. No, not Zack Taylor/the Black Ranger as made famous by Walter Emanuel Jones... this isn’t a Power Rangers post. The hero we're talking about is recognized as the first African-American superhero on TV in the US - in prime time, no less! Not only that, as if the creators weren't defying standard superhero tropes enough (especially for the early 90s), the titular superhero character was also disabled. Ring any vague bells, 90s kids? It's none other than that crafty insect: the M.A.N.T.I.S! No, not Marvel’s Mantis that you might know from the Guardians of the Galaxy films and other media. And not the Korean film produced by Netflix, either.. We’re talking about the M.A.N.T.I.S. -  which is, of course an acronym for “Mechanically Augmented NeuroTransmitter Interactive System.” (What a great era for backronyms!) Obvious, and now you remember it perfectly well now, right? Well, maybe not, but we’ll get into that. So what makes M.A.N.T.I.S. so cool and why are we talking about it? How did it even come to be? 

With great power…

So who was this M.A.N.T.I.S. and where did he come from? (At this point, to give my fingers a rest, can we just say "Mantis" without thinking of the Marvel character? I think it’ll save us all some time and space.) Mantis was a creation from the minds of none other than Sam Raimi and Sam Hamm. Raimi, being famous nowadays for  the 2000s Spider-Man movies, as well as some other overlooked superhero work and a few personally-beloved classics. Hamm is known for writing the first two Tim Burton Batman movies, as well as other Batman-related writing. So, with that kind of talent, how could these two flub Mantis? Well... they didn’t. Mantis, as mentioned, was the wealthy and successful scientist Dr. Miles Hawkins, played by veteran actor and future Martian Manhunter Carl Lumbly. Shot by a police sniper during a riot (fairly topical - the show premiered about two years after the 1992 LA riots) and paralyzed from the waist down, he powered exoskeleton, leads to the name of his alter ego and the series itself. Fighting a corrupt government and police department, Mantis uses the abilities of his suit to protect his friends and seek justice. What kind of powers? Superhuman strength, speed, and agility, as well as paralysis darts he can shoot from his wrists. In the original pilot, he also had some hypnosis abilities. And if that wasn’t enough, he had a suspiciously Batman-esque secret underwater lab (the Seapod) under his mansion which housed his flying car/submarine, the Chrysalis. Oh yeah, and he had a really cool trenchcoat in the pilot (which may or may not have been left over from Darkman). To top all that off, the pilot was primarily cast with African-American actors. Notably, the amazing Gina Torres, who'd go on to be quite the genre superstar and even collaborate with Sam Raimi again. So, what went wrong?

M.A.N.T.I.S Japanese VHS Box
…comes great responsibility. 

It's hard to say who was responsible for the downfall of M.A.N.T.I.S, but, since it's my blog, I'll say it was probably all down to Executive Meddling. It actually lasted a full American season (at the time) of 22 episodes. However, between the pilot movie and the main series, there were some major changes. That's the nature of TV, though, just look at the major differences between theatrical movie Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the subsequent TV series. Studio executives will get in there and change all sorts of things for various reasons, right or wrong. Unfortunately, in this case, following the departure of Raimi and Hamm, the FOX executives got rid of most of the African-American cast. In fact, most of the characters were changed. However, they at least managed to keep Carl Lumbly as Dr. Hawkins/M.A.N.T.I.S. Probably difficult to change everything else and not keep your lead. They also, unfortunately, dropped the trenchcoat, the hypnosis powers, and changed the cool setting. It's hard to see studios fumble like that, but possibly due to the large number of X-Files and 90s Star Trek alum behind the camera (and even in front of, we could always use more Andrew Robinson), they still managed to squeeze a lot of classic sci-fi tropes into those 22 episodes. Mysterious portals? Check. Clones? Check. Holograms galore. Speedsters. Mutants. Time travel. Invisible dino…invisible dinosaurs? I think I need to rewatch this series myself!

Which can be a bit tricky, given that the show isn't on any streaming service as of this writing - only purchasable through Amazon and Apple TV in glorious Standard Definition. Couldn’t we use a reboot, though? You can almost see Dr. Miles Hawkins being shot by a certain real-world government agency while helping someone at a peaceful protest. It doesn’t even have to be Miles Hawkins, although it would be cool to see Carl Lumbly back, maybe passing the torch in a similar way to his role in Falcon and Winter Soldier? Training a new M.A.N.T.I.S. like Bruce Wayne does for Terry McGinnis in Batman Beyond? Certainly, Sam Raimi would have to be involved - I certainly hope the rights for the original pilot belong to him and Hamm, or at least could be made accessible. Executive meddling, budget cuts, and low ratings aren't going to prevent you from bringing in people of color as (super)heros in your own stories and tabletop games, though. Just please, don’t completely write them out or kill them off after just one or two sessions. Until next week folks, remember there are still heroes (super and otherwise) out there, and enjoy your tables and your dice.

 

 Send questions, comments, and custom systems/rulesets to recreate the insanity of 90s live-action TV superhero shows to neversaydice20@gmail.com. 

Mantis Series Premiere TV Guide Ad

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