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| Image Courtesy www.twitter.com/CiaraMcAvoy1 |
According to Ciara McAvoy, a Scottish movie
poster artist, Marvel has a Captain Britain series in development
and she was hired to paint a teaser poster for it! In a follow-up Tweet, McAvoy revealed that
there are producers attached to the project (and their names), and they are
working on a sizzle reel in advance of bringing it to Marvel. A definite announcement may have to wait
until late 2016 or early 2017, however. Evidently
this is not an official Marvel Studios project, but a project being spearheaded
by fans looking to receive Marvel’s blessing if they like the pitch.
With that in mind, I thought I would
try my hand at helping those producers out with my own ideas of what would make
for an interesting Captain Britain TV series.
Now, I already talked about Brian
Braddock, a.k.a. Captain Britain, in my “National Heroes”
article and when talking about Union Jack’s rumored appearance
in Captain America: Civil War.
However, in this article I will highlight the kinds of things which
could have some bearing on a possible Captain Britain TV series.
History of the Character
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| Image Courtesy marvel.wikia.com |
Brian Braddock was born to an
aristocratic English family as one of three children. He has an older brother as well as a twin
sister. Interestingly, his twin sister
Betsy is actually the telepathic mutant Psylocke (who is appearing in X-Men: Apocalypse played by Olivia Munn). Brian himself was not born with any
superpowers, but instead received his superpowers from Merlyn after being
grievously injured while attempting to escape a criminal on his motorcycle. In exchange for Brian’s agreement to become
the mystical guardian of Britain, Merlyn offers him a choice between two
mystical artifacts, the Amulet of Right and Sword of Might, of which he chooses
the Amulet. Using the power of the
Amulet, Brian becomes Captain Britain and protects Britain from mystical and
inter-dimensional threats.
As Captain Britain, Brian
Braddock has fought alongside many other superheroes, including the British
super agencies S.T.R.I.K.E. and MI: 13.
While studying abroad in America, Brian roomed with Peter Parker, and
the two would go on patrols together, though Brian never discovered that Peter
was really Spider-Man. He has also
fought alongside Black Knight and Union Jack, among other British heroes. In addition, Brian was a founding member of
the British mutant hero team Excalibur after the X-Men were presumed killed.
One of Brian’s longtime
associates in the comics is Meggan Puceanu, a Gypsy mutant with the ability to
shapeshift, sense other people’s emotions, and take on the powers of other
superhumans by copying their appearance.
The two teamed up quite regularly in the comics, with Meggan serving as
a love interest for Brian and eventually becoming his wife.
Finally, Captain Britain is part
of the inter-dimensional Captain Britain Corps, which is made up of the Captain
Britains from each universe in the Marvel Multi-verse. Each universe must have its own Captain
Britain, and each Captain Britain is responsible for dealing with threats to
his/her respective universe and upholding his Britain’s respective laws.
Throughout his comic book
history, Captain Britain has alternately fought supernatural threats to the
mystical side of Britain as well as inter-dimensional threats.
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| Image Courtesy en.wikipedia.org |
Abilities
All of Captain Britain’s
superhuman abilities are originally derived from the mystic artifacts he
uses—the Amulet of Right and a mystical staff.
However, over time his powers come to be more and more inherent and
become less and less based on his access to the amulet.
The Amulet gives Captain Britain
all of the standard superhuman enhancements:
strength, speed, stamina, durability, reflexes, and senses, similar to
Captain America. However, where Steve
Rogers was physically enhanced by the Super-Soldier Serum, Brian Braddock
remains his normal size and strength when not using the Amulet; using the
Amulet actually transforms his body into a much more muscular version of
itself. In addition to these standard
abilities, Captain Britain also has the ability to see mystical and cloaked
objects.
Thanks to a mystical staff which
Merlyn gave him (and which he modified into a mace) he is able to fly at
supersonic speeds.
His final “ability” is that he
and his twin sister (Betsy Braddock, a.k.a. Psylocke) share a psychic bond
thanks to her mutant psychic abilities.
Possible Supporting Characters
for TV
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| No, not this versionImage Courtesy www.theglobaldispatch.com |
I think the most important
supporting character they could introduce to this show is Betsy Braddock, Brian’s
twin sister. Their sibling dynamic is
something we really haven’t seen much of in the MCU to-date—Quicksilver died
much too soon for them to really explore the twin dynamic with him and Scarlet
Witch. I’m not entirely sure how the
rights would work with Betsy, however, considering that she is a mutant and we
know that FOX owns the movie rights (at least) since she’s appearing in X-Men: Apocalypse. Given the Captain Britain connection,
however, I’m going to guess that Marvel can use the character as long as she is
not a mutant. For this reason, if she can
appear in this series, I would either make her non-powered or have her innate psychic
abilities be activated by exposure to Merlyn’s magic at some later date.
Brian Braddock has a couple of
love interests in the comics, but Meggan Puceanu is the one with whom he shares
the most history. Since she is (likely) a
mutant there’s a question of whether Marvel can use her rights, also. If they can, I would probably alter her back
story to make her an Inhuman with some similar abilities: reactive evolution and shapeshifting. I wouldn’t give her all the same powers,
however; she is really overpowered in the comics, at least by MCU
standards. Given her outsider status as
both a Gypsy and an Inhuman, she would bring something very different to this
series.
In addition to these two, Merlyn would
have to appear to give Brian Braddock the choice to become Britain’s champion
by taking the Amulet of Right (assuming that they remain faithful to the comic
book origin). I would probably keep him
as a mentor of sorts to Brian and as someone who manipulates Brian into doing
his bidding.
The series would of course need
villains as well, and Captain Britain has a number of them. One interesting possibility is to use Mastermind,
an artificial intelligence created by Brian’s father which went crazy and had
Brian’s parents killed. This would be
very similar to Avengers: Age of Ultron, however, so they may not want
to copy the idea of a murderous A.I. so soon.
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| Image Courtesy en.wikipedia.org |
Moving on to minor and recurring
characters, there are a few that I would try to bring in if I were pitching
this series. The first—and I think most
obvious—is Joseph Chapman, the third Union Jack. Union Jack and Captain Britain have something
of a friendly rivalry in the comics, in part because the
technologically-powered, working-class Union Jack makes an excellent foil for the
mystically-powered, aristocratic Captain Britain.
Other options for heroes who
could appear in this series include Shang-Chi (following his rumored appearance on Iron Fist), who spent time as an MI: 6 agent in the comics. In a later season, they could also introduce
other British heroes like Black Knight and Spitfire.
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| Image Courtesy en.wikipedia.org |
Possible Story Ideas
Given Captain Britain’s 40-year
publication history as well as the wide variety of threats he has faced, a Captain
Britain TV series could go in a number of different directions in terms of
plot. Here are a few options for
season-long focuses:
The first season of the series could
focus in on the characters and their dynamics, as well as introducing and
exploring Captain Britain’s powers. The
mystical elements could come in a little bit, but I don’t think that should
necessarily be the focus for the first season.
Towards the end of the season, however, I would start bringing in the
mystical elements full-force (in advance of giving the mystical side more time
in the second season), one of which could involve Betsy’s psychic abilities
being activated by her proximity to Merlyn’s magic.
In the second season I would
start expanding on Britain’s superhero community through MI: 13 (which could
either be a separate British spy agency or the British arm of
S.H.I.E.L.D.). If Union Jack appears in
the first season, then it would be easy enough to use him to introduce Spitfire
(the daughter of the previous Union Jack who has superhuman speed and is the
current Union Jack’s lover). Black
Knight is another uniquely-British hero who would fit in well with the mystical
elements of Captain Britain.
A future season could see Captain
Britain exploring the concept of a Marvel live-action multiverse (same as The
Flash is doing in its second season) as a way to tie together the Marvel
and FOX cinematic universes, as well as other cinematic “universes” represented
by various Marvel movies. In the comics
it is well-established that every universe has its own “Captain Britain” who is
part of the inter-dimensional “Captain Britain Corps” and responsible for
protecting both his own version of Britain and his universe. This could offer a way for Marvel and FOX to
cross over, if FOX were at some point given permission to introduce its own
Captain Britain who is Psylocke’s brother.
At this point a good season-long threat could be Mad Jim Jaspers
(even if he is a mutant). However, I do
not think that Captain Britain should really start exploring the multiverse for
quite a while; he needs to explore and confront threats to his own reality
before doing the same in other realities.
Conclusion
So if I were one of the fan-producers
putting together this series pitch to bring to Marvel, I would highlight the
following elements in my pitch.
First, I would emphasize that
this fills a definite niche in both the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the
modern comic book TV/movie enterprise:
that of the international hero. As
of now there are very few truly international heroes receiving their own movies
or TV series. Marvel has Black Panther,
who will be introduced shortly in Captain America: Civil War, and they
just introduced Elena “Yo-Yo” Rodriguez and Eden Fesi, a.k.a. “Manifold,” in
back-to-back episodes of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Wonder Woman is going to be at least somewhat
international in the DC Extended Universe, but those are really the only international
heroes out there; just about all the other heroes in live-action media are
based in America (including the Sokovian Scarlet Witch). Captain Britain would add a truly
international flavor to the MCU, just as much as Black Panther’s appearance in Civil
War will do.
Second, I would point out the
cross-medium synergy that is possible in terms of the mystical elements of the
MCU. Doctor Strange is set for
release this November, followed by Iron Fist sometime early next year,
and both of those will begin to open up Marvel-Mystic in the MCU. A hero like Captain Britain, whose physical
abilities come from the mystical and who fights magical threats despite not being
particularly magical himself, offers an interesting counterpoint to a kung fu
master like Iron Fist who also employs mysticism in combat and a straight-up
magician like Doctor Strange.
Third, I would pitch the idea of
the Captain Britain Corps as a means for teasing and exploring a Marvel
Cinematic Multiverse—and as a possible way for incorporating the X-Men into the
MCU if FOX were interested. There are
other avenues available for doing this, but Captain Britain and the Captain
Britain Corps offer a ready-made connection between various cinematic
universes.
These kinds of projects have a
very low chance of being made—at least as part of a larger cinematic universe
(c.f. Star Trek). However, I do
think that this one would be a win-win for both Marvel and the producer. Perhaps Marvel will see it the same way!
Are you a fan of Captain
Britain? Would you like to see a Captain
Britain TV series? Let me know in
the comments!
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