Captain Universe is a great concept - super powers that get regularly passed from one person to another. This is another C-list Marvel hero that I could see making a successful transition to movies or television. They would not even have to lock in a major star for an extended contract, due to the nature of the property. There could even be multiple Captain Universes in one movie. Now that Marvel's film division is digging a bit deeper into their catalog of characters, I hope that they will consider this hero for live action.
As I recall the premise, Capt. Universe debuted in Marvel's comic book adaptation of the Micronaut toys from Hasbro (or was it Mattel?). And, the "sub-atomic universe" that the Micronauts called home had a local equivalent of the Force known as " the Uni-power." With Capt. Universe being the physical embodiment of same! So, any team-up with Adam Strange would probably have to feature the DC equivalent of a Micronaut. Like, maybe, someone from the planet Imsk.
ReplyDeleteI like to think that the DC equivalent to the Micronauts was their ATARI FORCE comic from the 80s. Like the Micronauts, it was based on a licensed property but they did completely original stuff with it, and like the Micronauts, it was set in an alternate reality.
ReplyDeleteBut now that I think about it, the cast of Atari Force would compare well to the movie version of Guardians of the Galaxy.
How about a team up between Doctor Strange and Adam Strange.
ReplyDeleteThat one is already on here...
ReplyDeleteYes!!! Oh, Captain Universe... I think it would make a great TV series, though it'd probably have a hard time finding its audience without any ongoing characters. Audiences these days insist on having characters they can latch onto and become familiar with -- anthology shows like The Twilight Zone or Love, American Style, though big hits in their time, just wouldn't fly today. Still, it might be worthwhile to test the waters somehow....
ReplyDeleteI agree with Bob Greenwade in that Captain Universe -- the superhero who can be _anybody_ -- is a bit much to ask from movie audiences who aren't necessarily "hip" to obscure comic book characters. GotG is pushing it as it is, imho. Plus, CU's powers are a tad too similar to Firestorm's.
ReplyDeleteWhile "Doc meets Adam" has been done before one, more appropriate match up would be Dr. Strange and DC's Dr. Occult. Sixties space age mysticism meets Thirties film noir-style supernatural suspense (not to mention, the Eye of Agamotto and the Symbol of Seven)!
A Strange/Occult cover may very well be in the future...
ReplyDelete@jrp04f: Not only is what you "agreed" with not what I said, but I don't agree with it myself. The preexisting popularity of a character really won't affect how well a TV series does that much -- more popular characters will have better existing fan bases, of course, and the less popular characters are less popular for a reason.
ReplyDeleteWhat I was addressing was the necessary lack of an ongoing character for audiences in the 2010s to relate to. My the very nature of the character, a Captain Universe TV show would have none. It would be, in effect, a shared-universe anthology. It would be possible to have some recurring characters, but no regulars.
(And to think... here I am, part of a team that's developing a TV show -- Intergalactic Space Rangers -- that does exactly that. Well, the heroes are fully recurring, in that if you see one you can bet he'll be back in a few episodes, and they all get together every so often, so it's not quite the same thing, but it's still going to be a challenge.)
Captain Universe always struck me as being the anti-Dial H for Hero. Instead of one person who becomes many random heroes, we've got many random people who become one hero. (But then, there was the Will Pfeifer H-E-R-O series that did it both ways.)
ReplyDeleteOn a tangent, there are two DC properties with small fan bases that I always felt would be better suited to the TV or movie screen than the comics: Ditko's original Shade the Changing Man, and Bridwell's original Secret Six. I loved both concepts, but neither ever got the audience they deserved.
To the first Anonymous: Captain Universe may have debuted in the Micronauts comic, but subsequent appearances have been firmly set in the mainsteam Marvel Universe. Even Peter Parker and Bruce Banner have become the Captain. The Uni-Power exists everywhere. So it's not necessary to set the story in a micro-verse.
ReplyDelete@Bob Buethe
ReplyDeleteIn the immortal words of Henny Youngman: "It might not be necessary. But, it certainly couldn't hurt!" ;-)