A new adaptation of John Carter of Mars is underway, 13 years after Disney’s movie version flopped at the box office. John Carter is one of the iconic pulp sci-fi heroes of the 20th century, first created in short stories and novels by Edgar Rice Burroughs in 1912 and later adapted into comic books. Burroughs’ estate is now developing an animated series based on the author’s work, with showrunner Michael Kogge overseeing the project, according to a report by The Wrap. It’s not clear which platform this series is bound for, but more details may come later this week. Kogge will give fans a sneak peek at the series during a panel at San Diego Comic-Con on Friday.
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John Carter of Mars follows an American Civil War veteran from Virginia who was a captain in the Confederate army. After the war, he sought his fortune as a gold prospector in the southwest, eventually running afoul of Native American tribes there. In the original story, he seemed to die while hiding out in a cave, but his consciousness was mysteriously transported to Mars where he somehow returned to his corporeal form.
On Mars, Carter finds himself living among other humans, who call their planet Barsoom. There are other humanoids on the planet, as well as fearsome alien creatures and mythical creatures. After growing up on earth, Carter is generally stronger and more agile than Barsoom natives, and he is able to help them overcome monsters and other challenges.
The story has inspired much of the sci-fi and genre fiction of the last century — it was cited by George Lucas as a major influence on the creation of Star Wars, for example, and it’s often named alongside other pulp classics like Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers. However, there have been few attempts to directly adapt Carter’s stories to the screen, and the biggest swing, Disney’s 2012 movie John Carter, was a critical and commercial failure.
Kogge’s new adaptation will be an animated series, and he hinted it will have an anime style as he compared it to Netflix original series Castlevania, Blood of Zeus, and Twilight of the Gods. Kogge has recently adapted Burroughs’ stories into an audio drama series, which is reportedly being recorded now with a full cast. There’s no word on when that audio series might be available, but presumably it will come before the animated series.
Hopefully, we’ll know more about all the upcoming John Carter of Mars adaptations after the Burroughs panel at SDCC on Friday. In the meantime, the 2012 John Carter movie is streaming now on Disney+.
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