A live-action Captain Planet series is in development for Netflix.
Back in 2016, we got word that a movie based on the '90s animated series was in the works at Paramount Pictures and Leonardo DiCaprio's Appian Way, with Jono Matt and Top Gun: Maverick star Glen Powell enlisted to write the script and the latter in line to star.
Then, back in 2023, Powell revealed that the project was still in the works, and that he was very keen to play the environmentalist hero of the title.
"Captain Planet is definitely something I'm incredibly passionate about," the actor told Yahoo! "Leonardo DiCaprio and I have been putting that together for several years. With the recent changes over at Warner Bros., we're just trying to figure out how the pieces will fall."
"It's an environmental superhero, so it's not necessarily part of DC — it exists outside of that world. At the same time, I think the world has never needed an environmental superhero more! So I think it tonally fits in with everything that James Gunn and Peter Safran are doing at DC and Leo and I are very optimistic that we can make something happen. I'd love to play Captain Planet — that'd be sick."
Now, Deadline is reporting that the feature idea has been scrapped, but the project has been reimagined as a Netflix series from Greg Berlanti’s Berlanti Productions and Appian Way. Mrs. Davis co-creator/executive producer Tara Hernandez has been enlisted to write the show.
Some of you might be a bit young to remember Captain Planet and the Planeteers, but the cartoon was very popular when it ran from 1990 to 1992, and still maintains a bit of a cult following. The show focused on five teens from around the globe who could control the elements, and once their powers were combined they were able to summon Captain Planet - a superhero who battled against pollution in an effort to cleanse the environment.
Powell and Matt's take would have been set "years after the adventures of the show, with the Captain now a washed up hasbeen who needs the kids more than they need him," but we're not sure if the series will retain this premise.
There's no mention of Powell in the trade reports, so we assume that he is no longer attached.
What do you make of this news? Any Captain Planet fans out there? Drop us a comment down below.