Himesh Patel and Aya Cash Starring in ‘The Franchise’

The series, which will poke fun at blockbuster factories like Marvel and DC, hails from director Sam Mendes and satire veteran Armando Iannucci.

(Left) Himesh Patel in Max's 'Station Eleven.' (Right) Aya Cash as Stormfront in season 2 of Prime Video's 'The Boys.'

(Left) Himesh Patel in Max's 'Station Eleven.' Photograph by Ian Watson/HBO Max. (Right) Aya Cash as Stormfront in season 2 of Prime Video's 'The Boys.' Credit: Jasper Savage. Copyright: Amazon Studios.

Though they certainly seem to be going through more of a rough patch right now, giant movies featuring caped crusaders, men of steel and other costumed characters continue to be a force at the box office.

And while satirizing the idea of superheroes is nothing new –– Prime Video alone has ‘The Boys’ and the animated series ‘Invincible’ –– poking fun at the machinations of companies and people who make movies based on comic book properties is still an idea ripe with promise.

Who better, then to oversee such a project as Armando Iannucci, the British comedian and writer/producer who has brought us the likes of ‘Veep’ and ‘Avenue 5’ and spent years before either show working on politically-skewed series in the UK?

Yet while he will be an executive producer on the new series, ‘The Franchise’, the actual showrunner is Jon Brown, who worked with Iannucci on ‘Veep’ and ‘Avenue 5’ but has also spent years on ‘Succession’.

With HBO ordering the show to series after a successful pilot, the creative team is rounded out by ‘American Beauty’ and ‘Skyfall’ director Sam Mendes, a man more known for producing TV than calling the shots on it, but who did so for ‘The Franchise’.

What is the story of ‘The Franchise’?

Aya Cash as Stormfront in season 2 of Prime Video's 'The Boys.' Credit: Jasper Savage. Copyright: Amazon Studios

According to HBO’s official description, the show follows “the crew of an unloved franchise movie fighting for their place in a savage and unruly cinematic universe,” while it also “shines a light on the secret chaos inside the world of superhero moviemaking, to ask the question — how exactly does the cinematic sausage get made? Because every fuck-up has an origin story.”

It’ll definitely be taking pot shots at the big comic book-based studios, then, and potentially mega-budget filmmaking in general. Possibly along the lines of Judd Apatow’s satire ‘The Bubble’ last year (though hopefully more successfully).

Who is starring in ‘The Franchise’?

Himesh Patel in Max's 'Station Eleven.' Photograph by Ian Watson/HBO Max.

According to Variety, ‘Yesterday’s Himesh Patel and ‘You’re the Worst’s Aya Cash (who already has superhero satire bona fides thanks to playing Stormfront on ‘The Boys’) will star, but they’re just two from an impressive cast.

The roster also includes Jessica Hynes, Billy Magnussen, Lolly Adefope, Darren Goldstein, Isaac Powell, Richard E. Grant and Daniel Brühl, the latter two who have actual superhero credentials, with Grant playing a Loki variant in MCU series ‘Loki’ and Brühl as Zemo in ‘Captain America: Civil War’ and series ‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’.

When can we expect to see ‘The Franchise’?

Himesh Patel in Max's 'Station Eleven.' Photograph by Ian Watson/HBO Max.

That is a much bigger question to answer; while the pilot was shot before the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes took effect, the series itself will have to wait for them to be resolved before it can get moving in any creative capacity.

Still, given the talent involved, you know HBO will want to get moving on this as soon as possible, especially since it’ll want the series out before the superhero movie genre goes completely off the bubble.