M.A.N.T.I.S. is a TV series that aired for one season. The original two-hour TV pilot was produced by Sam Raimi, and developed by Sam Hamm, it starred actor Carl Lumbly as M.A.N.T.I.S.
Lumbly's character, Dr. Miles Hawkins, was a rich, mild-mannered doctor who was shot in the spine by a criminal leaving him paralyzed from the waist down. Using his company's resources, he invents an exoskeleton suit that not only enables him to walk, but gives him superhuman abilities. He utilizes a vast array of technology, including a large underwater lab and a hovercraft called the Crysalid to fly around the city. With his newfound power, he vows to fight crime and assumes the hidden vigilante identity of "M.A.N.T.I.S." (Mechanically Automated NeuroTrasmitter Interactive System).
The show was later extensively retooled as an ongoing series on FOX, the first bulk of the first season featured an ongoing, and unfolding arc of the Mantis operating in a vigilante role, frequently pursued by police, and battling industrialist Solomon Box. However, a major retooling of the series suddenly reverted the series to a more generic action-adventure comic series, almost a parody of itself compared to the excellent and intriguing earlier instalments.
Hawkins essentially just became another superhero battling invisible men, and in the series' final installment (never aired in the US, but aired in the UK), a prehistoric dinosaur, Miles Hawkins met his death disposing of the creature.
It lasted for one season between August, 1994 and March, 1995.
Lumbly later went on to provide the voice of another superhero, J'onn J'onzz, the Martian Manhunter, in the animated television shows Justice League and Justice League Unlimited.
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Trivia
The pilot was the final role of actor, Steve James of the American Ninja movies. James died due to cancer.
