Future Man is a semi-dudebro, slightly ridiculous twist on several sci-fi/fantasy scenarios; time-travel, video games, an epic quest. The series follows Josh Futturman, an underachieving janitor who spends most of his spare time trying to beat the seemingly unbeatable game 'Biotic Wars'. Unbeknownst to him, and seemingly the few others who also play, it turns out the game is actually a recruitment tool from the future. As he becomes the first person to beat it, the two main characters from the game, Tiger and Wolf, appear, and explain that Josh is a great warrior and is going to save the world, and thus kicks off the show.
Tiger and Wolf think they've found the saviour of humanity, but they quickly come to realise that Josh is not the soldier that his gaming skills first made him seem. Of course, the disparity between their skills and the naivety that Tiger and Wolf, and Josh have about each other quickly set up an interesting dynamic. As a whole,
Future Man is slightly outlandish and overtly crass, but it knows it and it owns it, and for the most part it's definitely a fun ride. It's definitely unbelievable how coincidental it is that Josh works for the man who is responsibly for the eventual creation of the Biotics, but the writers throw difficulties at the heroes with the time travel elements and the difference in how to approach the mission.
Over the course of the thirteen episodes, the main story involves Josh, Tiger and Wolf trying to stop Josh's boss Dr. Kronish from contracting herpes, and therefore dedicating his medical career to finding a cure to herpes which then leads to the creation of mutants called Biotics. Definitely a somewhat farfetched concept, and the episodes explore different scenarios and ways to stop Dr Kronish, usually to varying unfavourable results. Whilst I think this season might have worked better as a tighter ten episode effort, I think the chemistry between the main trio was evident from the start and that definitely helped make the show more enjoyable.
Another one of the main strengths of this season was the character development, Wolf's in particular. Whilst I thought it happened particularly quickly, especially compared to Tiger's arc and questioning of beliefs, it was nice to see both of them find parts of Earth that appealed to them and see them soften slightly compared to the pilot. I thought Wolf being really good at cooking was incredibly sweet, but that prompting him to consider his place as a warrior and whether that was his true purpose in life was definitely a worthwhile overall B plot to explore. Tiger wanting to find a family worked for her character as well. The main three characters all influenced each other in positive ways and it'll be interesting to see how that works further in future installments.
In short,
Future Man is a slightly overlong, yet mostly enjoyable action filled time travel comedy show with satisfying character development, plenty of pop culture references and a few twist endings.
As announced earlier this week, Future Man has been renewed for a thirteen episode second season. Are you looking forward to it? What were your favourite elements of season one? Let me know in the comments.
