With the recent reveal that
Cool Mint Productions is pitching a Captain Britain television show to Marvel, I have decided to take a deeper look into the character and his history to see what this TV show could bring the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and whether indeed the show good work at all.
First a little back history of the character:
The character was created in 1976 by writer
Chris Claremont and artist
Herb Trimpe, originally appearing in
Captain Britain Weekly; an anthology comic published exclusively in the United Kingdom by the Marvel Comics imprint known as
Marvel UK. However, it was with the team of writer Alan Moore and Alan Davis that the character began to shine when he appeared eight page strips that ran from 1982-84 across
Marvel Superheroes #377-388,
The Daredevils #1-11 and
The Mighty World of Marvel vol. 2, #7-13. He notably went on to feature in the team books
Excalibur/
New Excalibur before more recently appearing in writer Paul Cornell’s
Captain Britain and MI:13 series, which was illustrated by Leonard Kirk.
As a character, Brain Braddock aka Captain Britain is endowed with extraordinary powers by the
legendary magician
Merlyn and his daughter
Roma, Captain Britain was assigned to uphold the laws of
Britain across the multiverse as part of Captain Britain Corps.
Not a British Captain America or an X-Man.
Despite being initially intended to be a British equivalent of
Captain America, Captain Britain’s is not a character that represents a very clear set of ideals and patriotism like his American counterpart. So portraying the character in that manner just wouldn’t sit well with fans or the British public as extreme patriotism is uncommon and is usually reserved for one of the four specific countries within Britain.
Captain Britain also has strong ties with the X-Men universe, with his team books (Excalibur) being x-books and many of his supporting cast being mutants. His twin sister, Betsy Braddock, infact is better known as Psylocke; a member of the X-Men who is set to appear in the upcoming
X-Men Apocalypse film. A few years ago most of us would expect there to be a rights issue with Fox leaving little chance that these mutant characters could appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, however with the inclusion of Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver in
Avengers: Age of Ultron it appears these things can be overcome.
Mysticism and the Multiverse
Captain Britain has the root of his power in Athurian myth gaining his powers from the sorcerer Merlin and the goddess Roma, with his family having mystical connection to an extradimensional realm called Otherworld, located at a cosmic nexus linking every parallel Earth in the multiverse (known here as the Omniverse), and populated with alternate version of Captain Britain. Everything from a human/dinosaur hybrid, Britanicus Rex, to a version from a Nazi occupied UK; Kaptain Briton.
Captain Britain would give the MCU more chance to explore the realm of magic but, like the upcoming Dr. Strange movie, this magic is rooted in the more grounded interdimensional energies. The multiverse aspect has been put to great use in the current season of The Flash allowing it to tie itself into previous adaptations and completely unrelated shows, if Captain Britain could do the same it would give the show unlimited possibilities.
Other notable supporting cast and villains
Captain Britain Corps, a group of infinite versions of Captain Britain charged with protecting Earth and all of its infinite parallel worlds.
Meggan, Brian Braddock’s wife and extremely powerful mutant. She has the ability to control elemental energies and shapeshift.
S.T.R.I.K.E., despite being SHIELD’s UK division in the comic, has already appeared within the MCU as a HYDRA infested SHIELD task force. However, the more recent MI:13, which first appeared in Paul Cornell’s Wisdom MAX limited series, would be a good fit into any British set Marvel TV show as platform for delivering exposition; much like the DEO in the
Supergirl tv show.
Pete Wisdom, another mutant and Director of the MI:13 agency.
Mad Jim Jaspers, a conservative MP with reality warping capabilities, who managed to twist the main Marvel Universes history so that there have suddenly been concentration camps and anti-superhero purges, with only Captain Britain, his sister Betsy and a couple of other characters able to remember the real history.
Jamie Braddock, Brian’s older brother and yet another reality warper.
Reminiscent of The Terminator, The Fury, is a blank faced and non-speaking artificial life form created for the express purpose of killing superheroes.
Final Thoughts
Well we are living in a world where a Captain Britain television show is an actual possibility and not just dream, or
fan fiction movie plots. That being said, me being English, I guess I have always been drawn to seeing our little corner of the world being depicted in the Marvel Universe but to do Captain Britain justice within the MCU I think Marvel will have to tread carefully and bring in people who know the character and culture. However, if done right the show could open up the MCU to the idea of multiple universes and delve deeper into mysticism, with a wealth of characters and locations.
In a perfect world this show would be made by the BBC and the people behind
Doctor Who and
Sherlock with the budget of
Agents of SHIELD. One can dream.