The Next Avenger… Captain Canuck

Great timing, this. We’ve just learnt that Marvel’s Captain America: The First Avenger movie will be having a name change in Russia, The Ukraine and South Korea (well, a name abbreviation – it’s going to be called just The First Avenger), and then pretty much straight away, we hear that Captain Canuck is suiting up for a big screen outing too.

I’d never heard of the fellow before, I have to admit. Rich tells me that this Cap is not such a well known character and is often confused with Guardian from Alpha Flight.

According to The LA Times, Captain Canuck saw three separate incarnations in just 26 issues, though these seem to have been spread out over four decades. Which of these guises will take the lead in the film isn’t yet known.

What co-creator Richard Comely is saying is pretty simple. He is:

…close to striking a deal with a Canadian production company to make a $15-million live-action version of the comic.

The article takes pains to point out that a Captain Canuck movie would likely be a friendlier, less aggressive affair than we’re seeing in the current Marvel movies, for example. The character is described as polite and “a little bit gentler”.

You decide if those character traits paint a fair, passive-aggressive comment on American militarism… or just a statement that dooms any Captain Canuck movie to the bargain bin before it even gets rolling.