After cancellation seemed imminent, comic book TV shows get a reprieve

"iZombie," "Lucifer" and "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." — three shows whose obits had been written — returned this month. Let's recap.

I can understand if the ratings for "iZombie" may have slipped. The CW show has moved far afield of its initial premise, which means older fans might have drifted away while potential fans of the new concept may not have found it. And what a shift it's been. The show has never resembled the DC/Vertigo comic book it's based on to any great degree — in fact, it began in 2015 as a typical TV police procedural with a mismatched buddy-cop team (one is a zombie). But boy, things have changed. The wordplay and banter remain, but everyone's miserable and grim. The worst of it is: I think the good guys are the bad guys now.

"Lucifer," canceled after three seasons on Fox, was rescued by Netflix. Since the third season ended on a cliffhanger, the streaming-service reprieve is a godsend. "Lucifer" follows the "iZombie" formula of taking a mature-reader comic book from Vertigo and turning it into a police procedural. But they whitewashed Lucifer — who is the biblical Satan — pretty thoroughly, explaining that religious accounts of his intrinsic evil are simply bad press. Not that Lucifer is fault-free. He has the sexual morals of an alley cat. But it's all played for laughs as Lucifer solves crimes as a "police consultant" with buttoned-down Det. Decker.

Enter Netflix, which launched Season 4 on May 8. And while the premise of the show remains unchanged — Decker and Lucifer still solve crimes — there's a lot going on in Decker's head that is slowly being revealed. Where "Lucifer" is going now is anybody's guess. But thanks to Netflix we have a chance to find out.

"Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." got a similar reprieve, although it didn't go anywhere. ABC announced last year that this season would be its last, and abbreviated as well. But then Netflix canceled all its Marvel shows, and Disney (which owns ABC) suddenly saw "S.H.I.E.L.D." in a new light — not only extending this season to its normal length, but guaranteeing another one.

Unlike "Lucifer," the Marvel show had prepped for the end. Director Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) was dying, and he and Agent May (Ming Na-Wen) had moved to Tahiti (frequently referred to on the show as "a magical place") for his final days. Fade out. But then came the stay of execution. Season 6 began May 10 with Coulson already dead, and the other regulars returning to their jobs with a slew of recruits under new leadership. If you're wondering where Thanos and "the Snapture" plays into all this, don't. Wen told TVLine that the show and the Marvel Cinematic Universe are going their separate ways.

"S.H.I.E.L.D.," despite being crippled in its first couple of seasons by events in the movies, has always been blessed by strong storytelling, great acting, terrific production values and great F/X. Now, with the MCU manacles off and a guaranteed future, the potential and scale just expanded.