This 2-Part Action Series Is the DC Comic Book Adaptation Fans Deserve To Know About

When the MCU was still in its infancy, before the DCEU came to fruition, and before DC comic book superhero shows were the norm, DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. Television produced one of the most underrated DC comic book shows of all time. We’re talking about Human Target, an excellent, yet sadly short-lived, series. Based on DC Comics’ Human Target, created by Len Wein and Carmine Infantino, the series starred Mark Valley as the show’s eponymous “Human Target,” aka Christopher Chance. Unfortunately, despite an incredible setup and an amazing first season, host network FOX and Warner Bros. Television cut the series short, forcing changes that upset the show’s dynamic and killed it. This explains how the most underrated DC comic book series never became the hit it should have been, and how it’s overdue for a streaming comeback.

‘Human Target’ Hit a Home Run in Its First Season

Human Target boasted an incredible ensemble in its first season, featuring Mark Valley as Chance, an undercover specialist and mercenary-for-hire. A now-reformed former assassin, Chance offers help to those in need, taking undercover assignments to become a veritable “Human Target,” placing himself in the line of fire for his clients. The incredible Chi McBride portrayed Chance’s stern partner, the ex-detective Laverne Winston. Plus, the series also featured Watchmen star Jackie Earle Haley as another former assassin and Chance’s friend, Guerrero. Along with some other recurring cast members, such as the memorable Lennie James as the brutal Baptiste, the cast’s dynamic was electric. Each week brought a new assignment and challenge for Chance.

Human Target came at an interesting time in the television landscape. Streaming was still in its infancy, but it came out post-Lost and post-24. Television was starting to get much bigger in scope and budget. However, it also debuted before the comic book superhero renaissance that started with shows like Arrow, The Flash, etc., on The CW, and later the Marvel Netflix shows. Human Target was based on a DC comic book, but it wasn’t a genuine “superhero” series. That said, the series did have a dynamic, pulpy comic-like style, incorporating inventive and creative action set pieces each week. In the pilot, Chance fights an assassin in a ventilation shaft. The second episode featured some unique action sequences aboard a commercial jetliner. All these factors helped elevate Human Target into one of the best television shows that, sadly, was criminally underrated and overlooked.

Season 2 Attempted To Fix What Wasn’t Broken

Unfortunately, Human Target’s second season was marred by various studio and network changes that worked to the show’s detriment. Matthew Miller became the new showrunner in Season 2, replacing series creator and executive producer Jonathan Steinberg. Basically, Miller saw fit to fix things that weren’t broken in an attempt to make the show funnier, sexier, and more like Miller’s previous hit series, Chuck. But Human Target wasn’t Chuck, nor did it portend to be Chuck at the outset.

The series brought on new cast members, Indira Varma and Janet Montgomery. Varma portrayed Ilsa Pucci, who served as a wealthy new benefactor for Christopher Chance and his team, while Montgomery portrayed Ames, a cunning thief and con artist who joins the team. Having a billionaire bankroll Chance’s operation took away from the first season’s more lower-tech aesthetic. It worked better when the group didn’t have unlimited funds and scrounged up what resources and favors they could. Varma and Montgomery are both talented, but their characters stuck out and didn’t come off as natural, organic additions to the cast. Also, Season 2 essentially abandoned all the storytelling and setup with The Old Man (Armand Assante), Chance’s adoptive father and former mentor, and Timothy Omundson as the nameless villain who appeared in the first season finale, and only briefly in Season 2.

The biggest offense entailed dropping Bear McCreary’s incredible orchestral score and music. Human Target featured a wonderful opening credit sequence and theme song that perfectly set the mood for Chance’s adventures. Miller dropped McCreary’s immaculate score in favor of cliché pop songs and needle drops. The opening credits also threw out McCreary’s music, replacing it with a sonic cacophony that sounded like an assault on the eardrums. Even Miller had enough integrity to eventually admit that replacing McCreary’s opening theme song was a mistake, telling Give Me My Remote in a 2011 interview, “In hindsight, if I could do it over again, I would not have changed the opening theme song. So there you have it: I made a mistake.”

The Legacy of ‘Human Target’

Image via Fox

The fans who remember know Human Target was great and didn’t receive its fair shake, much like plenty of other great shows like Firefly and Terriers. It got two seasons, but it never became the huge hit that it should have due to studio interference and executive meddling, fixing things that didn’t need fixing and making changes that hurt the amazing framework that was set up in the first season, rather than allowing the changes to happen naturally.

Right now, Human Target is available for streaming, but through Roku’s Howdy streaming service. It really needs a proper streaming platform through Roku’s main channel, Netflix, HBO Max, Hulu, and/or Prime Video. That way, viewers can properly indulge in the show’s greatness and see how audiences were robbed of a television classic.