“Captain Planet and the Planeteers” was one of my favorite cartoons growing up in the early 1990s. While it also gave me cool interpersonal “drama” such as Wheeler and Linka’s on-again, off-again relationship and the surprise of realizing Kwame was voiced by LeVar Burton, it also taught me about recycling and keeping the planet clean. So, imagine my surprise when I found out The Hollywood Reporter has stated that a “Captain Planet” film is on the works!
The Hollywood Reporter states that Sony Pictures is in the final negotiations to acquire the rights to the cartoon show so it can be adapted by produced by Mark Gordon, Don Murphy and Susan Montford. This is not the first time Montford and Murphy have worked on a “Captain Planet” adaption project; The Hollywood Reporter states that in the early 2000s, the two developed a live-action show based on the cartoon, but it never took off.
As to if this is going to be a good or bad movie, I can’t tell you. I will say that I’m already a little troubled by how they’re going to handle Captain Planet himself. He’s a blue superhero with a green mullet and barely any clothes. Are they going to have an actor play him under a CG overlay similar to Dr. Manhattan in “Watchmen”? Or are they going to have him be completely CG? Will this film be rated G or will they raise the action and violence for older audiences? So many questions. If you’ve got your opinions about this, write them down in the comments section.