Peacock has been pretty busy lately creating a wide range of content for their new streaming platform. Including just announcing Casper a live-action tv series based off of Casper the Friendly Ghost.
Now, this wouldn’t be the first time we have seen the friendly ghost in a live-action. In fact, the 1995 Casper film is a family hit that grossed 55 million. But this will be the first time that Casper the Friendly Ghost might not be so PG.
Riverdale Casper?
It seems that the creators behind the new series will be taking a page from the hit CW series, Riverdale. What was one a wholesome comic story about Archie and his friends in a small town, has taken a much darker interpretation. And clearly, that change in the story has been a huge success, with the series confirming Season 7.
Casper will be a coming-of-age story that fans can expect to take a similar darker twist. This series is described as a horror/adventure show that will focus on the origin of our favorite ghost. Following a family arriving in Eternal Falls, Casper gets caught up in uncovering a dark secret that has been hidden for 100 years. Similar to Riverdale, this story will focus on a high school setting.
There isn’t much to go off just yet regarding this new series. But we do know that it will be written and executive produced by Kai Yu Wu. As well as UCP and DreamWorks Animation set to co-produce. Wu has written for shows such as NBC’s Hannibal, CW’s The Flash, and ABC’s Deception. She also recently created the Netflix series The Ghost Bride.
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It’s always interesting and exciting when we get to see characters and stories we are so accustomed to being revised into something so drastically new. It isn’t clear how similar they will make Casper to Riverdale’s style of storytelling. As a long-time fan of Archie comics who has been strapped into the long ride that is Riverdale, sometimes it can be overly complicated and hard to get through.
This is something that might be a hard balance regarding this type of narrative switch. It also isn’t clear if this is in an effort to connect to that Riverdale fanbase which seems to stem a lot from the Supernatural fanbase. Not to mention the fanbase of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, which personally felt like it ended too soon.
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One thing is for sure, there is a huge market for murder mysteries and plots that surround supernatural elements. As well as we are seeing that shows that have already built-in fandoms, are thriving no matter how weird and different it might get. And this is where some of the unease sits. Because there isn’t a lot of information available, it’s hard to tell if Casper will even be able to keep the title, “Friendliest Ghost.”
One thing about Riverdale is while the plot is darker, the characters are still roughly based in the original sense. These are the attributes that made readers connect to them in the first place. Could fan love of Casper withstand if he isn’t the friendly type?
In the 1995 movie, we learn that Casper had died due to pneumonia. But since the creation of Casper in 1939, there really isn’t much history behind the origin story. So one has to wonder, could the mystery that this new series revolves around, be behind his own death?
What do you think about the new plans for Casper? Do you like these reimaginings of classic titles? Why is it always a dark and gritty take? Let us know what you think in the comments below and share your reactions with us on Twitter
Source: Murphy’s Multiverse
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