It Is Time for a Captain Planet Movie

Ok, so last week we heard rumours that Sony is in final negotiations for a Captain Planet film, sparking excitement in the hearts of 90's kids everywhere who grew up watching the animated series on TV. 

Well, actually, tentative excitement would be more accurate. We've heard these rumours before and we're still without a Captain Planet movie. There were even rumours of a live action TV series being made in the late 90's (although, I only heard this the other day). 

I've said before that rumours and hearsay are the best kinds of evidence. But in this case, they're really not. They just get everyone's hopes up only to smash them again when nothing happens. We just have to wait with bated breath (and crossed fingers), and hope that something happens this time. 

But that begs the question: why hasn't there been a Captain Planet film made yet?

I mean, since X-Men debuted in 2000
(wow, that was a long time ago), superhero movies have proven to be extremely popular with movie goers. So much so that there's even been reboots in a very short amount of time. So there's very little doubt about the public wanting superheroes. Plus, you know, so many people grew up watching Captain Planet as kids. Everyone will flock to the cinemas just to see their favourite Eco hero on the big screen. It'll be just like what happened with Tomorrow When the War Began all over again. 

And then there's the whole Eco hero thing: in the last decade or so, saving the environment has become a big thing. It's all about going green and saving the world. What better way to help spread this message and get people to start thinking more about the environment than with a massive blockbuster propaganda movie? I mean, let's face it, that's pretty much what the TV series was back in the day: short twenty minute episodes of pro environment propaganda. But you know what, it worked. It made so many kids more aware about saving the world and looking after the environment. It helped to convince me that littering wasn't cool (although I did always want to meet Captain Planet and the Planeteers). 

Although, the rise in Green did kind of coincide with 911, and Captain Planet and the franchise's fans do like to use the term "Eco-terrorist". Maybe the powers to be felt that a movie that contained the term "terrorist" and wasn't about some crazy Middle Eastern people trying to bring down America wasn't appropriate. Or maybe they were scared that it would spawn a whole new breed of terrorist that wanted to save the environment and not focus on any kind of political agenda (egads! The horror!). Green Peace and anyone else concerned about the environment were already creating too much noise and getting too much attention (those bastards). 

But now, a decade or so on and things are completely different: the world's leaders are talking about what can be done to save the environment and prevent climate change, the world isn't so highly strung about the term "terrorist" and (more importantly) superhero movies have more than proven themselves to be popular. 

The world is ready for a Captain Planet movie. And now is the perfect time for a movie about a superhero who is all about saving the environment and preventing climate change. Let's hope that these rumours about Sony and their final negotiations are true and we finally get to see our beloved Eco hero on the big screen.