It’s been an eventful week for Warner Bros. Animation. First they released the trailer for Batman: Knightfall Part 1 (of 3 or 9), then they announced a trio of DC Studios projects. Last night at the Annecey International Animation Festival, they announced plans to revive Dark Shadows as an adult animated series.
The timing of this announcement coincides with the 60th anniversary of the original gothic soap opera created by Dan Curtis. Yes, it will focus on the tortured vampire Barnabas Collins. At least, that’s one of the talking points, and should be.
Despite touting 1200 episodes of the original series, it wasn’t until the 2nd season that the mysterious cousin Barnabas (Jonathan Frid) appeared. And that made all the difference. Arguably the first “vampire with a conscience” in pop culture, Barnabas became an unlikely superstar in the public consciousness. So much so that Curtis directed a film based on the vampire’s introductory storyline, House of Dark Shadows. Because it was intended for the “drive-in crowd,” Barnabas is a more straightforward villain.
That spawned a sequel, Night of Dark Shadows, that focused on cousin and part-time tortured werewolf Quentin Collins (David Selby). Neither movie should be considered canonical to the soap opera. Selby also returned as Quentin in a series of Big Finish audio dramas and audio books.
Barnabas and Quentin never stayed dead for long. In recent years, Hermes Press has reprinted the original spin-off novel series from the 1960s, the Gold Key Comics series, and the newspaper strip. They’ve also produced new graphic novels, which sit nicely beside original series actor Lara Parker’s continuation novels.
Younger audiences may remember the franchise through the disappointing Tim Burton adaptation, which was the third live-action version. NBC and Curtis rebooted the series in 1991 with British actor Ben Cross as Barnabas, but that lasted only 12 episodes. For years hanging around the Dark Delicacies bookstore, I’d hear rumors that Curtis’ production company was attempting another reboot. An adult animated series makes sense.
While no streamer or channel has been identified, the default of HBO Max/Adult Swim isn’t a given. Prime Video has done well with Caped Crusader, and the impending merger of Paramount and Warner Bros. means Paramount+ wouldn’t be out of the question.
Wherever it lands, Dark Shadows would be well served as an adult animated series. The nuances of the concept don’t compress well into 90 or 120 minutes. Imagine the true dark shadows that can be brought to life, whether it be like something by Bruce Timm or an anime style. As the press release does not mention a target date, this goes into my 2027 or 2028 hotly anticipated series list.
Should you want a taste of the original series, 12 seasons are available on Prime, Tubi, the Roku Channel, and Pluto TV. It looks like the film House of Dark Shadows can be rented through Apple.
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