'Misfits' Gets A Reboot: Here's What We Know

It's only been three years since Misfits, the popular English drama about a group of young adults with various powers, left the air. In 2011, all 37 episodes began airing on Hulu, and viewers were drawn to the gritty world of delinquents, sex, death, and deception. Apparently, the viewership has been good enough to earn the show a reboot. Freeform, the channel formerly known as ABC Family, is welcoming an Americanized version to its lineup. The details are just now starting to come in about this reboot, but here's what we know so far.

Josh Schwartz will be the executive producer of Misfits.

In case you don't know who Josh Schwartz is, he created The O.C. and Gossip Girl, both of which were basically teen soap operas. I'm not sure if that bodes well for Misfits, which was a gritty drama with violence, superpowers, and criminals who had no interest in fitting in. A show like this might be better suited to Melissa Rosenberg, who created and produces Jessica Jones or Drew Goddard and Jeph Loeb who produce Daredevil.

An electrical storm won't be the cause of their powers.

According to Hollywood Reporter, the characters will develop their powers after being exposed to a mysterious chemical. In the original series, an electrical storm caused the supernatural abilities, and those abilities fit the characters, like the ability to rewind time for one who is trying to escape his past. Will the chemical cause the same reaction, or will their powers be changed as well?

American restrictions on television guarantee this will be a toned-down version.

The British drama didn't shy away from sex, language, and nudity. It's basically a little to no-holds-barred show. As we all know, that means we're going to get an entirely different version here, more of a watered-down scenario. I'm not sure how much that is going to detract from the tone of the show. Part of what makes Misfits believable is that this group of delinquents doesn't pull punches. But you can guarantee there is no way American TV will allow Alisha's "bottle" scene to air considering what it's simulating. The link is there if you want to watch it, but it's a NSFW scene.

So there's the little we know so far, and although a reboot means to discard all continuity in an established series in order to recreate its characters, timeline, and backstory from the beginning, I would hate to see Misfits lose a lot of what made it so appealing. I think viewers who have caught this show on Hulu like it because of how it was originally made. To strip the show to bare bones and rebuild from the ground up may very well destroy what lured us in.