Following prior speculation and reports, Amazon has ordered a pilot for a live-action reboot of superhero comedy "The Tick" from Sony Pictures TV, according to Deadline. "The Tick" creator Ben Edlund is on board as writer and executive producer, and two actors have been cast for the pilot: Griffin Newman as the Tick's sidekick, Arthur, and Valorie Curry as his sister, Dot Everest.
Patrick Warburton, star of the original "Tick" live-action series, is not expected to be involved in the pilot, despite earlier reports that he may return to the role. Casting is said to be currently underway for the title role. Warburton currently stars in "Crowded," an NBC sitcom set to debut next week.
Deadline has some plot details from the new "Tick" pilot, saying that the title character will be "recovering from a memory loss" and end up "re-teaming with Arthur to fight evil." Arthur will be "labeled as a schizophrenic because of his statements that evil plans to rule the city, and no one believes him until he runs into Tick;" Dot is "a nurse who loves her brother Arthur to death and worries about him."
News of a live-action "Tick" return first surfaced in 2014. The character started life as a mascot for comic book store New England Comics, where Edlund shopped, before later starring in full-length stories, gaining popularity as an over-the-top parody of superhero comics. An acclaimed animated series ran on Fox Kids from 1994 to 1996, and the live-action series (also from Sony) lasted just nine episodes on Fox from 2001 to 2002, but attracted a cult following in the process.
Along with Edlund, Barry Josephson, who was an executive producer on the Fox "Tick" live-action series, is set to return. Wally Pfister, a director and cinematographer best known for his work with Christopher Nolan including the Dark Knight trilogy, is in negotiations to direct the pilot.
Edlund has had a successful career in television in recent years, with work as a writer and producer on "Firefly," "Angel," "Supernatural" and, currently, "Gotham."
