Mayhem and maple
Captain Canuck filming planned for next summer
Canadian producers are aiming to give 1970s cult superhero Captain Canuck his big-screen debut — and they’re planning to begin filming the storied crimefighter’s story as early as next summer.
Vancouver screenwriter Arne Olsen penned the screenplay after Canadian production company Mind’s Eye Entertainment did a cross-country search for the right writer.
“It all takes place in Vancouver,” said Richard Comely, the Ontariobased graphic designer who co-created the homegrown hero in 1975.
Now 62, Comely was living in Winnipeg when he and fellow artist Ron Leishman first conceived of Captain Canuck. Comely’s creation is a Mountie given super strength — in the original comic it was from contact with aliens, but in the movie human technology has something to do with it.
Comely said producing the comic was a learning experience.
“I had to learn, I think each issue gets incrementally better,” Comely said. “The first issue is a little tough to look at now.”
Comely said it was Olsen’s idea to set the big-screen origins story in B.C. “We use the city big-time, and outside the city as well,” Comely said. “B.C. has the scenery we would love to capture in the movie — mountains, rivers oceans, forests, all of that stuff.”
The producers are still putting the funding together for the project. Comely — who visited Vancouver recently to meet with screenwriter Olsen — said the feature would have a more serious tone.