1 Thor. In 1988, the characters from the Incredible Hulk TV show returned in a TV movie aptly titled The Incredible Hulk Returns. In it, Dr. David Banner (Bill Bixby) is approached by a former student named Donald Blake (Steve Levitt), who has found a hammer that allows the Norse god Thor to appear if he shouts “Odin!” As it turns out, Thor (Allan Kramer) has been assigned to be a sort of guardian angel for Blake and he has to do a certain amount of good for Blake before Odin will allow him back to Asgard. Naturally, Thor and the Hulk (Lou Ferrigno) battle it out. The TV movie was to be a pilot for an ongoing Thor series, but that did not work out. However, if at first you don’t succeed…
2 Daredevil. In 1989, David Banner is on the run after the disastrous fight with Thor in the previous TV movie described above. He witnesses a murder and finds himself framed for the crime by the evil mob boss Wilson “the Kingpin” Fisk. Thus begins the next TV movie featuring the Hulk, called The Trial of the Incredible Hulk. Banner’s attorney is Matt Murdock (played by Rex Smith), who is blind. When Banner, in prison, freaks out, turns into the Hulk, and escapes, Murdock tracks him down as the vigilante Daredevil. He asks for Banner’s help in taking down the Kingpin. Together they clear Banner’s name. Amusingly enough, the jury foreman on Banner’s trial is played by Stan Lee, his first cameo appearance in a Marvel film of any kind. This was meant to work as a pilot for a Daredevil series. It did not work out.
3 Justice League of America. In 1997, CBS produced a pilot trying to adapt the Keith Giffen–J. M. DeMatteis era of the Justice League into a TV series. Giffen and DeMatteis’s run was often referred to as being sitcomlike, and that’s just what the TV series was like—it was essentially a sitcom with superheroes—really, really low-budget superheroes.
It had some major names attached, but it turned out quite cheesy and unsurprisingly was not picked up.
4 Wonder Woman. This revamp of the Wonder Woman concept (which was a hit TV series for ABC during the 1970s) was handled by David E. Kelley, the same guy who won about 457 Emmys during the 1990s for shows like L.A. Law, Picket Fences, The Practice, and Ally McBeal. The show would star Adrianne Palicki as Diana Themyscira, who owns a corporation that funds her crime-fighting as Wonder Woman. For the sake of some anonymity, she also lives under the name Diana Prince, in a small apartment with a cat. In the first episode, she battles against an evil CEO named Veronica Cale (a character from the Wonder Woman comics in the 2000s), who Wonder Woman believes is selling mutated forms of steroids to teens. Before starting her career as Wonder Woman, Diana dated a man named Steve Trevor. At the end of the episode, he shows up as her new liaison with the U.S. Justice Department. However, he has gotten married since they last saw each other. Hey, it worked for Ally McBeal, didn’t it? After initially turning down the idea, NBC was bought and the new management wanted the show and had Kelley make the pilot. However, with its high budget, NBC had to be positive that the show would be a success, and with some initial negative buzz on the Internet regarding the show (including Palicki’s costume), they felt it was too risky so they passed.