If you had an original Sony PlayStation, you might remember playing the car-combat video game series Twisted Metal. The franchise will soon return but not as a game, rather as a live-action, action-comedy TV series streaming on Peacock.
Anthony Mackie, who is currently best known as the character Falcon in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, stars as the character John Doe. The show's "about a motor-mouthed outsider offered a chance at a better life, but only if he can successfully deliver a mysterious package across a post-apocalyptic wasteland," according to the press release announcing that Twisted Metal is on Peacock.
Gallery: Twisted Metal TV Series Promo Images
Doe has a trigger-happy car thief as a partner on his adventure. Along their journey, they fight villains driving vehicles that are ready for battle. The announcement also mentions a deranged clown at the wheel of an ice cream truck, which is a reference to Sweet Tooth who is a notable character in many of the games.
Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick from Deadpool and Zombieland came up with this take for the show. Michael Jonathan Smith who is part of the creative staff on Cobra Kai is Twisted Metal's showrunner, writer, and executive producer. Will Arnett is among the executive producers.
The announcement doesn't say when the show starts streaming or how many episodes are in the first season. According to Variety, the Twisted Metal TV series has been in development since February 2021.
It's not clear if this is related to the show, but John Doe is a character in the 2001 game Twisted Metal: Black. He drives the vehicle Road Kill, which is a beat-up 1970 Dodge Challenger that shoots missiles.
The first Twisted Metal game came out on the PlayStation in 1995, and there were four entries on that console plus the spin-off Twisted Metal: Small Brawl about RC cars battling. The most recent entry was on PlayStation 3 in 2012 and simply had the name Twisted Metal.
While never funny, the games had a little dark humor in them. For example, the Paris level in Twisted Metal 2 let players burn the Mona Lisa, and a secret code was underneath.
