It speaks to the character's strength that, since his modest (and, to be honest, slightly amateurish) comic book debut in 1975, Richard Comely's all-Canadian superhero has experienced reincarnation after reincarnation in the world of print, and it's long past time that he made the transition to other media. I realize that there's a well-trodden path for animated comic book adaptations, but let's set our sights a bit higher.
The CBC is long overdue to enter into the world of superhero franchising, and really, what better candidate could there be than Canada's best known superhero? If a live action Captain Canuck series garnered the same kind of viewership that even the least popular Marvel adaptations seem to be able to pull in on Disney+, it would stave off all those threats of budget cuts for decades.
It's a shame that Alan Ritchson is American, his physical presence and earnest style would make him an ideal Captain Canuck, but I feel that the casting has to be Canadian, right across the board. I know that Edmonton-born Nathan Fillion has been a long-time fan candidate to play the Captain, but as he edges up into his 50s, the role may call for a younger actor (not to mention his upcoming commitment as Green Lantern Guy Gardner in the new Superman movie.). And, no offense to Ryan Reynolds, but it might be for the best if he stayed in his lane as Deadpool, I think that this part calls for someone with a less sarcastic persona. Hmmm...Shawn Roberts, perhaps?People with only a casual awareness of the Captain's existence won't know that there's a full complement of supporting characters to flesh out the cast: Redcoat, Kébec, and the Steeltown Hammer, as well as opponents like the villainous Mr. Gold, master assassin Blue Fox, and the enigmatic alien Kyro-Na.
And let's be clear, there's no room for anything camp here: in this day and age, Captain Canuck should have the same gritty street-level gravitas that we saw in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, but set in a myriad of appropriate Canadian locales.
I can see it all: acrobatic midnight combat on the container cranes at the Port of Vancouver, grueling manhunts through the unforgiving icy wilderness north of Nunavut, bullet-fast car chases across the flatlands of the Prairies, life and death confrontations on the outside deck of the CN Tower*, spy versus spy in the halls of Parliament Hill, parcour pursuit over the tiled rooftops of Québec City, and amphibious assaults on storm-wracked citadels standing guard over the rocky shores of Newfoundland.
I'd like to think that it would become a bit of a prestige thing for Canadian actors and celebrities to do guest spots on the show. It's not hard to imagine that Prime Minister Mark Carney might even do a cameo - after all, he showed well on The Daily Show, and who knows, it might even help him in the polls.
So, we're ready to go - does anyone know who to call at CBC? Or maybe that's too high level, all we need to do is just get onto the right elevator with the right person and make our pitch...
- Sid
* Did everyone know that there's a CN Tower experience called the Edgewalk that puts you on the outside of the tower, 116 stories up at the Summit level, in a full body fall protection harness so that you can lean out over the edge? And I'm supposed to pay them to do this?
P.S. If you'd like to get a feel for what a Captain Canuck series might be like, there's a six-episode series from 2014 available on YouTube™:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFinqPnt7So&t=72s
The animation is somewhat primitive, but the voice cast has some street cred, such as Kris Holden-Ried from The Umbrella Academy, Tatiana Maslany from Orphan Black and She-Hulk, and Laura Vandervoort from Smallville and V.
