M.A.N.T.I.S.
Genre	Superhero[1]
Created by	Sam Raimi Sam Hamm
Developed by	Bryce Zabel
Directed by	David Nutter
Starring	Carl Lumbly Roger Rees Christopher Gartin Galyn Görg
Composers	Joseph LoDuca Randy Miller Christopher Franke Edgar Rothermich Joseph Conlan
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	22
Production
Executive producers	Sam Hamm Sam Raimi Robert G. Tapert Coleman Luck
Producers	David Roesell Paris Qualles
Production locations	Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Cinematography	Rodney Charters
Camera setup	Single-camera
Running time	44 minutes
Production companies	Wilbur Force Productions Renaissance Pictures Universal Television
Original release
Network	Fox (TV movie & episodes 1-20) Sci-Fi Channel (episodes 21 & 22)
Release	August 26, 1994 (1994-08-26) – September 14, 1997 (1997-09-14)

M.A.N.T.I.S. is an American superhero television series that aired for one season on the Fox Network between August 26, 1994, and March 3, 1995, with its final two episodes airing on Sci-Fi Channel on September 7 and 14, 1997.

The original two-hour TV movie pilot was produced by Sam Raimi and developed by Sam Hamm.

Plot

Wealthy, outspoken scientist Dr. Miles Hawkins is shot in the spine by a police sniper during a riot while trying to rescue a child, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down and using a wheelchair.

After losing a lawsuit against the police department and discovering evidence of a vast conspiracy against the black community, he angrily undergoes a change in political philosophy and uses his company's resources to invent a formfitting combination powered exoskeleton and bulletproof black body armor that not only enables him to walk while wearing it but in the process also endows him with superhuman strength, speed and agility, plus the ability to fire nonlethal paralysis darts from his wrists.

Using a vast array of technology, including a secret underwater lab called the Seapod deep beneath his secluded seaside mansion and a flying car/submarine called the Chrysalis to travel around the city at night, he secretly assumes the persona of the metal-masked vigilante known as the "M.A.N.T.I.S." ("Mechanically Augmented Neuro Transmitter Interception System", changed to "Mechanically Augmented NeuroTransmitter Interactive System" for the series) to find justice for himself and others.

The pilot featured strong roles for a variety of African-American actors, including Gina Torres as dedicated pathologist Dr. Amy Ellis, Bobby Hosea as ambitious reporter Yuri Barnes, Wendy Raquel Robinson and Christopher M. Brown as African students of Hawkins who act as his secret support staff in his fight against crime, and Steve James as handsome inner city youth club manager Antoine Pike.

The series that followed recast all the characters, save for the hero, to include British scientist and exoskeleton co-inventor John Stonebrake (Roger Rees) and smart-mouthed, streetwise young bicycle courier Taylor Savage/Savidge (Christopher Gartin), with police detective Lt. Leora Maxwell (Galyn Görg) being the only other person of color as a regular on the show, and the plot was completely rebooted and simplified from that of the pilot.^[2]

Initially, the series depicted the M.A.N.T.I.S. operating as an often-reluctant vigilante who only got involved in criminal situations when there was some sort of personal connection to him and his friends. While the costumed crimefighter was still pursued by police, the aforementioned conspiracy was now reduced down to the Machiavellian machinations of one man, evil industrialist and Miles' former business partner Solomon Box (Brion James in the first appearance, Andrew J. Robinson in later appearances).^[3] Box is often assisted by the corrupt chief of police Grant (Blu Mankuma)

However, poor ratings led to an extensive retooling of the concept. Midway through the show's run, minor recurring characters like Miles' clichéd sassy black housekeeper Lynette (Lorena Gale) were dropped, and more fantasy adventure elements were incorporated into the premise, including superpowers parallel universes like the one where a group of eyeless men in black are from, time travel, mad scientists, ghosts, and monsters.

In one particular episode, the M.A.N.T.I.S. is accidentally thrown 32 years into the future, where he finds that his own technology has been exploited to create a supercomputer called the City Eye (voiced by Malachi Throne) which has enslaved the Port Columbia population. He destroys it and sets the human population free before returning to his own time.

In the series' finale, a trapped Miles and Leora are tragically killed battling an invisible bulletproof dinosaur (where the heat signatures of it seen through M.A.N.T.I.S.' goggles give it an Tyrannosauridae-like appearance) as they sacrifice their lives to detonate the fuel cell in their car to kill it. John seals off the records and technology that had created the M.A.N.T.I.S., thus averting an apocalyptic future.

Cast

Production

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While the pilot was filmed in Los Angeles the series itself was produced in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Many Vancouver landmarks, such as the dome of Science World, appear, as do CN Rail cars on the railroad tracks.

It took three years to film due to Carl Lumbly being busy filming Nightjohn.

There were several differences between the pilot and the series.

In the pilot, Hawkins wore a stylish suit and brown leather trenchcoat over the exoskeleton without a skullcap, leaving the top of his hair bare. The mask/headpiece was larger with special glowing green lenses which could hypnotize anyone who looked into his eyes, an ability dropped from the subsequent series, as was his habit of leaving behind a small metal mantis as a calling card.

The setting was changed from Oceania City to Port Columbia, and all of the characters, with Miles Hawkins being the sole exception, were changed.

Episodes

Home media

The series was released on Amazon's Digital Download service Unbox on April 2, 2008. A DVD set of the series, including the original pilot, was released on January 27, 2009.^[4]

References

External links

• M.A.N.T.I.S. at IMDb