Who Wants to Be a Superhero?
Who Wants to Be a Superhero? was a superhero genre reality TV series broadcast on the Sci-Fi Channel produced by Nash Entertainment and POW! Entertainment. The show was created by Stan Lee and Nash Entertainment. A junior version of the show was broadcast on BBC Two/CBBC 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 superhero 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, a monitor resting in the middle of a pile of trash, or on individually issued "communicators". The winner's character concept would be the star of a Stan Lee scripted Dark Horse comic book and a TV movie for the Sci-Fi 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 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 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 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 released along with the season two's figures. Feedback appeared in the 2007 Sci Fi channel film Mega Snake.
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.
Key:
A plus sign indicates that the hero was singled out for praise by Lee in that episode.
| Superhero | Secret Identity | Concept | 1 | 2 | 3a | 3b | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
| The Defuser ♂ | Jarret Crippen Police detective Austin, Texas | Use non-lethal weapons/body can function at 110%/super strength/super speed/enhanced reflexes/super hearing/night vision | IN | IN | IN | IN | NOM | NOM | IN | NOM | WIN |
| Hygena ♀ | Melody Mooney Homemaker Sherman Oaks, California | Use a magic necklace to turn cleaning tools into weapons | IN+ | IN+ | IN+ | IN | NOM | NOM | NOM | NOM | OUT |
| Hyper-Strike ♂ | John Stork Circus performer Plainfield, Vermont/Chicago, Illinois | Martial arts expert/super strength/enhanced durability/enhanced agility/can manipulate own qi | IN | IN | IN | NOM | IN | IN+ | NOM | NOM | OUT |
| Parthenon ♂ | Dan Williams College professor Orlando, Florida | Super strength/invulnerability/flight/force-field generation/sonic blast/illusion creation | IN+ | IN | IN+ | IN | IN+ | IN | OUT | ||
| Whip-Snap ♀ | Paula Thomas Security officer Dallas, Texas/Los Angeles, California | Expert at using a whip/increased flexibility/decomposing touch/absorbs strength from the Earth | IN+ | IN | IN | IN | IN | OUT | |||
| Basura ♀ | Aja de Coudreaux Artist Oakland, California | Use magic to turn trash into weapons/communicate with insects | IN+ | IN | NOM | NOM | OUT | ||||
| Ms. Limelight ♀ | Trisha Paytas Barista Byron, Illinois/Los Angeles, California | Absorb the powers and skills of action stars from movies/fantastic swimmer/sense people's weaknesses/use a mirror to temporarily blind foes | NOM | NOM | NOM | OUT | |||||
| Mr. Mitzvah ♂ | Ivan "Sir Ivan" Wilzig Multi-millionaire Miami, Florida/New York City | Star of David paddle that can deflect any attack/super strength/flight/night vision/super senses | NOM | NOM | OUT | ||||||
| Mindset ♂ | Phillip Allen Cashier Coral Springs, Florida | Super intelligence/telekinesis/time travel/indestructible armor/sense danger/excellent problem solver | IN | OUT | |||||||
| Braid ♀ | Crystal Clark Homemaker/Former CIA Bloomington, Illinois | Use hair extensions as a zip line/shape-shifting/super smell/can change into her costume using a prism stone | OUT |