The Phantom getting the live-action series treatment

April 18th, 2026 by Marc Comments

The hero who claims the title of the first costumed superhero, The Phantom, AKA the Ghost Who Walks, is set to make a big return in a new live-action TV series.

Set to be produced and directed by Candy Cane Lane’s Reginald Hudlin, the series is currently being developed by King Features.

Hudlin is also an old hand at comic book writing, having previously worked on Black Panther for Marvel. He is also one of the owners of Milestone Media and is involved in the development of a Static Shock movie to take place within James Gunn and Peter Safran’s DCU.


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King Features president C.J. Kettler said of The Phantom’s return: “The development of a live-action series for the iconic comic strip ‘The Phantom’ marks a pivotal expansion to meet the current cultural zeitgeist for this brand.

“By partnering with award-nominated director Reginald Hudlin, who possesses a deep reverence for the comic industry and source material itself, we are confident this adaptation will meet the high expectations of both longtime and new fans globally.”

Over the years, the Phantom has appeared in the 1996 live-action movie starring Billy Zane, and he was also a part of the 1986 animated series Defenders of the Earth, which saw him team up with Flash Gordon, Mandrake the Magician, and Lothar as they fought against Ming the Merciless.

It’ll be interesting to see if the world has an appetite for the Phantom. I’m wondering if it would have made more sense a decade ago, but with good TV, is alwasy going to be good TV, so let’s see if the Ghost Who Walks can really deliver to modern audiences.

Thoughts? I know you have them and I wanna hear ’em all!


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Source: Variety

Marc is a self-confessed nerd. Ever since seeing Star Wars for the first time around 1979 he’s been an unapologetic fan of the Wars and still believes, with Clone Wars and now Underworld, we are yet to see the best Star Wars. He’s a dad of two who now doesn’t have the time (or money) to collect the amount of toys, comics, movies and books he once did, much to the relief of his long-suffering wife. In the real world he’s a graphic designer. He started Following the Nerd because he was tired of searching a million sites every day for all the best news that he loves and decided to create one place where you can go to get the whole lot. Secretly he longs to be sitting in the cockpit of his YT-1300 Corellian Transport ship with his co-pilot Chewie, roaming the universe, waiting for his next big adventure, but feels just at home watching cartoons with his kids….