''Who Wants to Be a Superhero?'' was a superhero genre reality TV series broadcast on the

Sci Fi Channel Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi Channel, later shortened to Sci Fi; stylized as SYFY) is an American basic cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. Lau ...

produced by

Nash Entertainment Nash Entertainment is a reality television and feature film production company. Founded in 1994 by Bruce Nash, the first production under its name was Before They Were Stars. The company is located at Sunset Gower Studios in Hollywood, Califo ...

and

POW! Entertainment POW! Entertainment Inc. is an American media production company formed in 2001 by Gill Champion, Arthur Lieberman and former Marvel Comics editor and publisher Stan Lee. POW! is made up of two companies: POW! Entertainment, Inc. (POW! Inc.), a ...

. The show was created by

Stan Lee Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber ; December 28, 1922 – November 12, 2018) was an American comic book writer, editor, publisher, and producer. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business called Timely Publications which ...

and

. A junior version of the show was broadcast on

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

CBBC CBBC (initialised as Children's BBC and also known as the CBBC Channel) is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the bran ...

in the UK.

Premise

Potential contestants auditioned as their super hero selves. The final 10 selected were then placed in common quarters. The contestants were then tested for super hero traits. Lee was the only judge and would instruct the eliminated contestant: “Turn in your costume”. He also mentored the contestants and made appearances, primarily on TV screens, on a giant plasma at the top of a tower block, monitor resting in the middle of a pile of trash or on individually issued "communicators". Winner's character concept would be the star of a Stan Lee scripted

Dark Horse A dark horse is a previously lesser-known person or thing that emerges to prominence in a situation, especially in a competition involving multiple rivals, or a contestant that on paper should be unlikely to succeed but yet still might. Origin Th ...

comic book and of a TV movie for the Sci Fi (SyFy) Channel.

Production

Stan Lee and Bruce Nash developed the concept. In 2004, MTV was considering televising the show even holding the regional auditions. The show moved to the Sci Fi Channel two years later with the pitch well received when they were told that Stan would judge. The show was renewed for a second season with hints of another country might get a junior version of the show. Jarrett Crippen, aka the Defuser, won the second season.

US season 1

At the Los Angeles 2004 auditions, Matthew Atherton applied as Knightbeam, powered from artificial light. Atherton reapplied as Feedback and was originally selected as an alternative. Some filmed challenges were cut from the show. The first challenge (1a) was from Rotiart, a plant from Lee, who talked to the contestants to find out who was there for the right reasons. The next challenge (1b) was to discreetly change into costume and then race to a finish line, with a secret part being to help a lost little girl.

The three finalists had their potential comic book cover shown to them. Then they had the challenge of getting school children to vote for them after telling them their origin story. Fat Momma won the children's vote. The next challenge was to track down Dark Enforcer at

Universal CityWalk Universal CityWalk is the name shared by the entertainment and retail districts located adjacent to the theme parks of Universal Parks & Resorts. CityWalk began as an expansion of Universal's first park, Universal Studios Hollywood, and serves as ...

via planned clues with Major Victory winning. Fat Momma wanted to quit, as she felt Feedback deserved it more, but was convinced to stick it out by the other two. Major Victory was then eliminated. Feedback won the first season over Fat Momma. The top three, winner Feedback, runners-up Fat Momma and Major Victory, were made into action figures by

Shocker Toys Shocker Toys was a company that manufactured limited release toys and products based on comic book and cartoon characters, as well as original creations. Founded in 1998, the company was run by Geoff Beckett Jr., Lance Buttiglieri, and Bill Ros ...

released along with the season two's figures. Feedback appeared in the 2007 Sci Fi channel film ''

Mega Snake ''Mega Snake'' is a television film by Syfy, Sci Fi Pictures. It was first aired on August 25, 2007. The film was produced by the company Nu Image Films as an original movie for broadcasting on the Sci Fi cable television network. It was shot in ...

''. :Key:

US season 2

Two or three villains, Dr. Dark and Bee Sting, were used in this season and there was an overarching story line. In addition to the first season rewards of a Stan Lee written comic book published by Dark Horse and a Sci Fi Original movie appearance, the winning character would also get a Shocker Toys action figure. Jarrett Crippen's character was originally named Take Down, but as that name was trademarked by a wrestler, Stan Lee chose "The Defuser" after discussing his job as a police detective. Crippen finished filming for his character's movie appearance by January 15, 2009. The movie, ''Lightning Strikes'', also starred

Kevin Sorbo Kevin David Sorbo (born September 24, 1958) is an American actor. He had starring roles in two television series: as Hercules in '' Hercules: The Legendary Journeys'', and as Captain Dylan Hunt in '' Andromeda''. Sorbo is also known for actin ...

. Key: A plus sign indicates that the hero was singled out for praise by Lee in that episode.

UK season 1

In the UK version, 13 children competed in superhero persona; it was broadcast on

References

External links

Official websiteWho Wants to Be a Superhero? UK version
at BBC.co.uk
Pictures and profiles
of season one contestants at CBS News.com *
Page for the Dark Horse comic book

Review of ''Who Wants to Be a Superhero?'' characters on Dark Horse comics page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Who Wants To Be A Superhero 2000s American reality television series 2006 American television series debuts 2007 American television series endings American superhero television series Syfy original programming Works by Stan Lee