Brian Michael Bendis Developing TV Adaptations of Jinx, Murder Inc., and Pearl With Prime Video

Prolific comic book writer Brian Michael Bendis is bringing some of his original creations to Prime Video. The former Marvel and DC writer has a lengthy catalog of titles not associated with the "Big Two" of comics, which all live under his Jinxworld comic book imprint at Dark Horse Comics. Along with his collaborators, Bendis has created the bounty hunter love story Jinx, the alternate-world gangster drama Murder Inc., and the equally gang-themed Pearl. According to Variety, all three comics are currently in development at Prime Video, with Brian Michael Bendis signing a first-look deal with Amazon. Bendis is an executive producer on all three projects, with co-creator Michael Avon Oeming also an executive producer on Murder Inc., and co-creator Michael Gaydos also an executive producer on Pearl.

"Brian has had immense success throughout his career, with a hand in some of the most culturally impactful comics in recent memory," said Nick Pepper, head of U.S. SVOD wholly owned development at Amazon MGM Studios. "We are thrilled that he is bringing his captivating storytelling to Amazon MGM Studios."

"I am thrilled to be part of Amazon's stellar lineup of storytellers," Brian Michael Bendis added in a statement. "Their vision for the future of media is SO damn exciting, and they have already honored us with these incredible showrunning partners. The readers have been cheering our original Jinxworld creations on from the get-go, and we are so excited to take them to a screen near you."

Bendis' comics resume also includes co-creating the fan-favorite characters Miles Morales, Jessica Jones, Maria Hill, and Riri Williams for Marvel Comics, and Naomi for DC. One of his previous creations with Michael Avon Oeming, Powers, was previously developed into a TV series for PlayStation Network.

What are Brian Michael Bendis' Jinx, Murder Inc., and Pearl about?

Amazon provided descriptions for Jinx, Murder Inc., and Pearl. Executive produced by Brian Michael Bendis with showrunners Ayelet Waldman and Michael Chabon (Star Trek: Picard, Unbelievable), Jinx is a crime-ridden love story unfolding on a high stakes treasure hunt. Our players are: Jinx Alameda, a bounty hunter at the top of her game who's tired of her grimy life; Goldfish, a charming con man and wanted felon who falls head over heels for Jinx; and Columbia, Goldfish's loose-cannon partner, who has big criminal dreams. Their paths join when they're pulled into a search for missing mob money — a payout so big that it lures them away from the familiar streets of Cleveland, into a dangerous, unpredictable misadventure that will change the course of their lives.

Murder Inc. has Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming (Powers) as executive producers, with Tze Chun (I'm a Virgo) set as the showrunner. Set in an alternate world where five families never lost their stranglehold on the country, Murder Inc. follows Valentine Gallo, a newly "made man" whose first task for the mob ends with an explosion—sending him on the run from rival gangsters and the CIA, according to its logline. Dragged into the fray is Jagger Rose, a normally cool, young hit-woman who was tasked with supervising Valentine, and has wound up with a target on her back too. Just when Valentine thinks his initiation into organized crime couldn't be more of a disaster, he learns that his mother is conspiring with the FBI, and has promised them–since his birth–that he'll be an informant. That was definitely not his plan. But for now, he and Jagger need to find a way to come together and fight for control of their territory, and their fate.

Finally, Bendis, Michael Gaydos (Jessica Jones), and showrunner Chris Collins (The Man in the High Castle) are the executive producers of Pearl. The description states that Pearl is about Pearl Tanaka, an outsider among outsiders — a Japanese American with albinism, born into a world ruled by the American yakuza. Now she uses her unequaled skills as a tattoo artist to make an honest living in San Francisco. That all changes the day that she meets another tattoo artist, Rick Araki, and saves his life. Rick has made enemies of a different yakuza clan, and by interfering with their hit on him, Pearl might just have ignited a deadly gang war. And worse, Pearl has inadvertently revealed to her yakuza bosses one of her deepest secrets: she has a real talent for killing. Now, to pay off her debt, she must become their assassin.