Netflix Reboots ‘Captain Planet and the Planeteers’ as Live-Action Series

Greg Berlanti and Leonardo DiCaprio are executive producers of the Netflix live-action adaptation of the 1990s cartoon TBS series “Captain Planet and the Planeteers,” which centers on an environmentalist superhero.

The “Captain Planet” series is written by Tara Hernandez, who is most known for creating “Mrs. Davis” on Peacock and for writing on “The Big Bang Theory” and “Young Sheldon.” DiCaprio and Jennifer Davisson via Appian Way and Berlanti, Sarah Schechter, and Leigh London Redman via Berlanti Productions are executive producers. The studio is Warner Bros. Television, with which Berlanti Productions has an overall deal.

Produced by Hanna-Barbera and DIC Entertainment, the Captain Planet cartoons “Captain Planet and the Planeteers” and “The New Adventures of Captain Planet” ran on TBS and in syndication from 1990 to 1996. Ted Turner, the founder of Turner, and Barbara Pyle came up with the concept because they intended to use superheroes and villains to draw in young viewers and highlight environmental issues. Among the voice actors on that show were LeVar Burton, Whoopi Goldberg, and Ed Asner.

Over the years, there have been several iterations of the live-action adaptation of “Captain Planet.” The “Captain Planet” film that Glen Powell had previously been scripting for DiCaprio was initially announced in 2018. As recently as 2023, he informed reporters that his “subversive and fun and dark and irreverent” interpretation was still being developed. Don Murphy and Susan Montford, producers of the “Transformers” movie franchise, collaborated with Cartoon Network in 2011 to create a live-action movie based on the character.

According to the Captain Planet Foundation, “In the show, Gaia, the spirit of the planet, assembles a team of five young ‘planeteers’ from nations around the world, who can summon Captain Planet to help them solve ecological and other global problems ‘by their powers combined.’ The show was widely acclaimed for its treatment difficult issues such as pollution, poaching, deforestation, as well as more social issues including drug addiction, HIV/ AIDS, and bullying in a way that educated, entertained, but also activated its young audience.”