The environmentally friendly superhero Captain Planet and his team of young environmentalists are getting the silver screen treatment. According to Deadline, Cartoon Network has just struck a deal with the producers of Transformers: Dark of the Moon to develop the early ‘90s cartoon series Captain Planet and the Planeteers into a live-action feature film.
Producers Don Murphy and Susan Montford signed the deal with Cartoon Network, planning on developing the film under their Angry Films banner. They also plan for the “green” adventure superhero to star in a series of films.
This comes as little surprise, as producers and studios are beginning to dig deep for potential franchises. And comic book/cartoon pics are imminently franchise-able, with any number of adventures with any given super hero. This news also follows the recent announcement by Cartoon Network that the animated series Big 10 is also being developed for the silver screen.
Ted Turner developed Captain Planet in 1990 and it ran for three seasons on TBS. The story revolves around a blue-hued environmentally conscious superhero and his posse of five kids from around the world that have been given different powers to fight environmental disasters and evil things harming the planet.
Glaring political agenda aside, can a super hero who goes around recycling and dropping environmentalist catch phrases actually be taken seriously, and will Captain Planet play more like an extended after-school special than a legitimate super hero pic? I guess we’ll have to wait for a script and plot details before we can decide, but it sounds too gimmicky and political to me.