Ross Hutchinson
The Russo brothers announced that they will be tackling a cartoon favorite from their youth BATTLE OF THE PLANETS for a live-action movie adaption at their SDCC Panel Friday.
The cartoon which was a western adaption based on the Japanese series Science Ninja Team Gatchaman but with a completely different premise. It ran for two years via syndication for a total of 85 episodes and followed the adventures of five youths of various ages in birdlike superhero costumes with cool weaponry and vehicles as they battled the evil galactic threat of Spectra led by the villain Zoltar under the command from the Luminous One is often credited as heralding the western anime boom. In 1978, western audiences had seen almost nothing like it and it was a hit with kids rushing home to catch the episodes in the afternoons after school. Two of those kids were Joe and Anthony Russo who would tune in to see Leader Mark (voiced by the legendary Casey Kasem) and his team foil another evil Spectra plan in each episode.
There have been several comic adaptions of the series in the past and it still has a massive following. No more details have been revealed but we will update this story as it develops