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Lumbly's character, Dr. Miles Hawkins, is a wealthy, mild-mannered doctor who is shot in the spine during a riot while helping a kid. He claimes he was shot by a cop and files a lawsuit but loses the suit. He decides against appealing. Paralyzed from the waist down, he uses his company's resources to invent a powered exoskeleton 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 identity of the vigilante "M.A.N.T.I.S." (Mechanically Augmented Neuro Transmitter Interception System). There were a few differences and inconsistencies between the pilot and the series. For example, in the pilot, Hawkins wore a suit over the exo-skeleton, it lacked a skullcap, and the headpiece was larger. The setting was changed from Oceania City to Port Columbia, and some characters were changed. The pilot featured Gina Torres as pathologist Dr. Amy Ellis, Bobby Hosea as reporter Yuri Barnes, and Wendy Raquel Robinson and Christopher M. Brown as a pair of African students studying under Hawkins. In the series, the supporting cast was changed to John Stonebrake, Taylor Savage and Lt. Maxwell. The bulk of the series' run depicted the M.A.N.T.I.S. operating in a vigilante role, frequently pursued by police, and battling industrialist Solomon Box (Brion James / Andrew J. Robinson). Poor ratings led to an extensive retooling of the concept. Midway through the show's run, minor characters were jettisoned, and more fantasy adventure elements were incorporated into the premise, including parallel universes, super-villains, and monsters. In the series' final installment, Miles Hawkins (and Lt. Maxwell) meets his death disposing of an invisible prehistoric dinosaur. The series was released on Amazon's Digital Download service Unbox on April 2, 2008. A DVD release of the series was released on January 27, 2009. |