Netflix Is Bringing Captain Planet Back From The Grave In Live Action
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Summary
- Netflix continues to produce hit series to maintain viewer engagement because of increasing competition in the streaming market.
- The streaming giant is now adapting the beloved 1990s cartoon Captain Planet and the Planeteers into a live-action series.
- The new series is a nostalgic throwback for ’80s and ’90s kids, reviving a popular franchise with high expectations for success.
Netflix isn’t afraid of a good old-fashioned nostalgia play every now and again. What is Stranger Things if not ’80s nostalgia-bait? What is Wednesday if not a new take on one of the most lasting franchises of the past fifty years? Now, the streaming giant is at it again.
Ever worried about the numerous streaming services nipping at their heels, Netflix is always on the hunt for its next hit series. After all, Stranger Things and Squid Game are ending this year (ostensibly… spin-offs are always a possibility), Bridgerton can’t run forever as there are a finite number of novels to adapt, and limited series like Dahmer and Adolescence aren’t built for multiple seasons. As Netflix Original Films continually struggle to make any sort of notable impact—we’re looking at you, Red Notice and The Gray Man—the service must fall back on what gets people to log in over and over: television series. Binge-watching shows is what Netflix was built on, and it undoubtedly has become a mainstay of the pop culture experience in a post-COVID world. This year alone, Netflix has new original programming coming from the likes of The Shield‘s Kurt Sutter, American Horror Story‘s Ryan Murphy, and Broadchurch‘s Chris Chibnall. Now, there is word of a new series coming down the pike.
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According to Variety, Netflix and Warner Bros. Television are teaming with Greg Berlanti and Leonardo DiCaprio to adapt the beloved 1990s cartoon Captain Planet and the Planeteers into a live-action series. Tara Hernandez of The Big Bang Theory, Young Sheldon, and Mrs. Davis fame is currently onboard to write the show. There isn’t much else to go on at this early stage of production, but it seems like kids of the ’80s and ’90s will have another chance to relive a bit of their childhoods yet again. Given that Dynamite Entertainment has a Captain Planet comic book currently ongoing, it seems like the franchise is well and truly back.
Netflix, Greg Berlanti, & Leonardo DiCaprio Are Reimagining Captain Planet and the Planeteers
“The Power Is Yours!”
Captain Planet and the Planeteers and its sequel show, The New Adventures of Captain Planet, were mainstays of 1990s television, airing from 1990 to 1996 before going into syndication on Cartoon Network and Kids’ WB. The Planeteers are a group of teens brought together by Gaia, the spirit of the Earth, to fight on behalf of the planet in the battle against eco-terrorism and the like. When all five Planeteers combine their Gaia-given powers together, they can summon Captain Planet to assist them. The franchise—blessed with vocal work from LeVar Burton, Whoopi Goldberg, Frank Welker, Meg Ryan, and Martin Sheen—was a smash hit, spawning numerous toys, video games, and other media.
Funnily enough, Leonardo DiCaprio has been trying to get a Captain Planet and the Planeteers film made for years now. At one point, Glen Powell was attached to co-write and star in the film as the titular superhero, but behind-the-scenes problems at Warner Bros. Discovery apparently stopped that incarnation of the movie from going forward. It seems unlikely that Powell would join a full-fledged Netflix series after becoming a genuine movie star over the past few years, but crazier things have happened. All in all, it’s an exciting time to be a fan of Captain Planet.
Source: Variety
