Captain Planet Live-Action Series in the Works at Netflix From EPs Leonardo DiCaprio and Greg Berlanti
Great news for all you millennial eco-warriors out there: Captain Planet is back… and he’s got some Hollywood heavy hitters on his side.
Netflix is developing a live-action version of the beloved ’90s animated series, according to our sister site Deadline, with superstar and noted environmental advocate Leonardo DiCaprio and TV mega-producer Greg Berlanti among the executive producers. (Berlanti has plenty of experience with superheroes, of course, from his time on The CW’s Arrowverse.) Tara Hernandez, a Big Bang Theory and Young Sheldon veteran who also co-created Peacock’s Mrs. Davis, is set to pen the adaptation.
Debuting in 1990 on TBS and in syndication, Captain Planet and the Planeteers followed a group of kids known as the Planeteers who combined forces to prevent environmental disasters, harnessing the power of earth, wind, fire, air and heart. When times got tough, they called in Captain Planet, a blue-skinned superhero who helped the Planeteers defeat polluting villains with his superpowers. He had a catchphrase, too: “The power is yours!” (Captain Planet encouraged viewers to be eco-conscious, raising awareness about real-life environmental issues.)
After three seasons, the show was renamed The New Adventures of Captain Planet in 1993 and took on a more mature and sophisticated tone. Captain Planet ultimately ran for a total of six seasons, spawning tie-ins like action figures, video games and comic books. A film version was attempted several times, most recently in 2016 through DiCaprio’s Appian Way production company, with future Top Gun: Maverick star Glen Powell signed on to play the title role, but that version never made it to production.
Are you ready for a hero who’s gonna take pollution down to zero? Join us in the comments to share your thoughts on the new Captain Planet — and watch the original theme song while you’re at it.
This can either go very well or very, very bad. Let’s hope it falls on the right side. And I’d love some of the previous voice cast to do some cameos at some point, such as Levar and Whoopi.
Deffo Whoopi as Gya, but if not, maybe Oprah, CCH Pounder or if they want some BIG PR you get Beyonce or Rihanna
I want to be happy but when it comes to super hero tv show, I think Netflix has the worst track record at renewing them (stranger things doesn’t count). What else is there except from the Umbrella academy?
Marvel’s Defenders series pre-Disney+
Just because it’s permanently in my head:
“earth!” “fire!” “wind!” “water!” “heart!”
“go planet!”
“by your powers combined, i am captain planet!”
captain planet, he’s a hero
gonna take pollution down to zero
he’s our powers magnified
and he’s fighting on the planets side
captain planet, he’s a hero
gonna take pollution down to zero
gonna help him put asunder
bad guys who like to loot and plunder
“you’ll pay for this captain planet!”
“we’re the planeteers, you can be one too!”
“cuz saving our planet is the thing to do!”
“looting and polluting is not the way!”
“hear what captain planet has to say!”
“the power is yours!”
Thank you – it broke me that the article wasn’t written with the proper order of Earth, Fire, Wind, Water, Heart…
Can’t wait for this
Ok yes, he flies private jets non stop and went to Bezos’ wedding but he’s behind a captain america reboot so his commitment to the environment is clearly legit
good to hear its been a long time coming
hopefully his leads to other hanna barbera superheroes getting live adaptation.
Berlanti? Nope.
Is Don Cheadle available?
Oh I hope so!!! Love those clips!!
Clean LyricParagraph Lyric
“earth!” “fire!” “wind!” “water!” “heart!”
“go planet!”
“by your powers combined, i am captain planet!”
captain planet, he’s a hero
gonna take pollution down to zero
he’s our powers magnified
and he’s fighting on the planets side
captain planet, he’s a hero
gonna take pollution down to zero
gonna help him put asunder
bad guys who like to loot and plunder
“you’ll pay for this captain planet!”
“we’re the planeteers, you can be one too!”
“cuz saving our planet is the thing to do!”
“looting and polluting is not the way!”
“hear what captain planet has to say!”
“the power is yours!”
Mother Nature laughs at the fools trying to combat pollution each time she let a volcano errupts around the world.
Why not just make it another animated show then? It would be far easier and less expensive to produce without having to deal with live actors on locations and sets, costumes, expensive visual effects, etc. And what network or streamer will want this? Berlanti had a long standing business relationship with the CW but of course that all went away when Nexstar took over and got rid of all the Arrowverse/teen shows. Just make it animated and have voice actors do the whole thing. I say this even though I know the perfect actor to play the lead/Wheeler, someone who is an actual environmentalist.
it says its going to be on netflix
also this live adaptation is long overdue
It’ll just get lost in the shuffle on Netflix with the 3 zillion other shows on there.
well personally imlooking forward to this
This would be amazing if they successfully pulled this off!
Don Cheadle and no one else.
Berlanti + Captain Planet seems like a no brainer, if he’s going to be a hands on producer. COuld be cool