First Look: Disney XD's Mighty Meds Taps Into Comic Book Culture

Marvel can't have all the fun. For its new sitcom Mighty Med, Disney XD has created an entire new world of homegrown superhero, sci-fi and fantasy icons. The series, which premieres Monday at 8:30/7:30c, takes place in a top-secret hospital where those characters are patched up.

Bradley Steven Perry (Good Luck Charlie) and Jake Short (A.N.T. Farm) star as two normal boys whose extensive knowledge of comic books and superheroes lands them a job at Mighty Med. With no powers of their own, the two pals (dubbed "Normos" in this universe) must learn to help save the people who save people.

Jim Bernstein (Phineas and Ferb) and Andy Schwartz (Scrubs) created the show. "We like to think of ourselves as big kids," Schwartz says. "The whole superhero genre is too hard to ignore. It's everywhere now. All the biggest movies, it's superhero and sci-fi movies."

Rather than reference existing superheroes, Bernstein and Schwartz spent months creating a whole new universe of hundreds of newly created characters. "That's been the most exciting and challenging part of this," Schwartz says. "Comic books have been around since the 1930s or so, and everything has been taken. And every name is taken. That's exciting but a bit of a challenge."

The key superhero on Mighty Med is Skylar Storm (newcomer Paris Berelc), a teenager who recently lost her powers. "It took a lot of time, but we're proud of this world we created," Bernstein says.

Mighty Med was born out of another project Bernstein and Schwartz initially pitched to Disney, a show called KaraNormal, about a girl who discovers a school where people have superpowers. It eventually evolved into Mighty Med. "The thing I like about it is it could be true," Bernstein says. "Maybe right now there exist people with superpowers. We like the idea that this could actually happen."

Here's a first look at Mighty Med:

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