John Carter, Warlord of Mars

Origin
John Carter is a Virginian member of the Confederate Armed Forces, mysteriously transferred from Earth to the dying red planet of Barsoom, a fictionalized version of planet Mars.Barsoom is home to a myriad different races of Martian.

Powers
On Barsoom, the lighter gravity makes John Carter immensely physically strong compared to some of his foes. John Carter is also, at least according to his own narrative, in superlative physical condition, and the greatest swordsman in two worlds, unwilling or unable due to the simple facts of the matter to acknowledge any other swordsman his superior or even equal.

As primary character

 * A Princess of Mars (1917)
 * The Gods of Mars (1918)
 * The Warlord of Mars (1919)
 * Swords of Mars (1936)
 * Llana of Gathol (1948)

As a supporting character:

 * Thuvia, Maid of Mars (1920)
 * The Chessmen of Mars (1922)
 * Mastermind of Mars (1928)
 * A Fighting Man of Mars (1931)
 * Synthetic Men of Mars (1940)

Novellas and unfinished novels

 * John Carter and the Giant of Mars (1941)
 * Skeleton Men of Jupiter (1943)

Miscellaneous
In addition to his appearances in the Barsoom novels, John Carter is also rerefenced in a number of other Burroughs series, placing him in the same universe as Tarzan of the Apes, David Innes of Pellucidar, Julian 5th (The Moon Maid) and Carson of Venus. Several Burroughs' characters, including Ulysses Paxton (Mastermind of Mars) and Tangor (Beyond the Farthest Star, 1942), possess the same form of astral projection described in A Princess of Mars.

Golden Age Appearances

 * The Funnies #30-56
 * Four Color Comics #375, #437, and #488

Cinematic adaptions
Attempts were made to bring John Carter to film as early as 1931, when Looney Tunes director Bob Clampett approached Edgar Rice Burroughs, proposing the adaption of A Princess of Mars into a feature length animated film. Burroughs responded well to the idea, but advised Clampett to write an original adventure for Carter.

By 1936, Clampett had produced a number of test reels for MGM, featuring both rotoscoped and regular cel animation, garnering enthusiastic support from studio executives. Unfortunately, an unusually negative reaction to advanced screenings resulted in the cancellation of the project.

Subsequent adaptions were pitched by Ray Harryhausen in the 195Os and Disney Productions during the 80s, but both attempts were abandoned due to the technical difficulties of bringing Burroughs' concepts to life.

By 2003, CG animation had advanced far enough for Paramount to seriously consider a multi-film franchise, but various controversies kept the project in "development hell" until the studio terminated their involvement in 2006.

The screen rights were reacquired by Disney the following year, and steps were taken towards planning a definitive "Barsoomian" trilogy, with A Princess of Mars forming the basis of the first installment.

In the meantime, a direct-to-DVD version was made by American independent studio The Asylum, in 2009. Featuring Antonio Sabato Jr. as John Carter, the film shares some elements with James Cameron's Avatar and revolves around more hard-core sci-fi elements such as teleportation and terraforming.

The high-anticipated Disney version went into production in November 2009, and is scheduled for release in March 2012. Starring Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins, and Willem Dafoe in the principle roles, John Carter was filmed in 3D, using special effects designed by Andrew Stanton of Pixar fame. Although the prologue has been updated to the 21st century, the remainder of the movie remains largely faithful to Burrough's original storyline.