114-Year-Old Sci-Fi Hero Will Finally Get Justice After Disney’s 2012 Movie Flop

After Disney’s John Carter flop, the 113-year-old sci-fi hero will finally get the justice he deserves. The Barsoom series, also called the John Carter of Mars series, began publication in 1912 by author Edgar Rice Burroughs. They follow the titular civil war soldier who gets transported to Mars, where he meets Princess Dejah Thoris and protects the planet the locals call Barsoom.

The Edgar Rice Burroughs books are so much fun. They’re pulpy, action-packed, and filled with aliens. The world of Barsoom is incredibly well-developed. What’s more, modern sci-fi writers and filmmakers frequently cite the Barsoom series as a significant influence on their work. It influenced Avatar, Dune, and even Star Wars.

Unfortunately, the one time the character and world got the big-screen treatment, Disney bungled the film. It was one of the worst box office flops of all time, and the critical reception wasn’t much better. Luckily, the hero John Carter and the badass love interest Princess Dejah Thoris will finally get the onscreen justice that they deserve.

Edgar Rice Burroughs’ John Carter Of Mars Sci-Fi Novels Will Get An Animated TV Show _imagery-from-the-John-Carter-Of-Mars-Books

Custom Image by Yailin Chacon

At San Diego Comic Con 2025’s Burroughs-themed panel, news broke that showrunner Michael Kogge and the estate of the late Edgar Rice Burroughs would team up to bring John Carter of Mars to the small screen (via MovieWeb). The involvement of Burroughs’ estate is a huge vote of confidence for the project already. What’s more, the John Carter of Mars show will be animated, which is a great choice given the progress made in fantasy action animation.

What The John Carter TV Show Needs To Learn From The John Carter Movie Failure

Taylor Kitsch as John Carter in John Carter

I’m not here to tear apart the John Carter movie, as it has gained cult classic status despite the box office flop. The film wasn’t as bad as people make it out to be, but there were some issues that can be fixed in the TV show. The series needs to pay attention to the visual style, the worldbuilding, and, most importantly, the marketing.

Considering that Disney made the film, it’s no surprise that they chose to Disneyfy the visuals, removing the grittiness of Barsoom. Looking at stills, there’s nothing unique. Most of the time, it feels like it could be any generic action story set in a sandy setting. The TV needs to have a distinctive style so that anyone looking at the visuals will know “This is John Carter of Mars.”

This leads to the second thing that the animated show can learn from the movie. Barsoom is extremely developed in the books, but the live-action didn’t fully capture that. It felt like a watered-down version of the setting. The animated TV show needs to make sure Barsoom is as good onscreen as it is on paper

Lastly, the John Carter of Mars TV show needs a good marketing team to sell it. They cannot remove “Of Mars” like the movie did because otherwise it doesn’t sound like sci-fi. They cannot create a bad, generic trailer. They need to lean into the fact that this is part of a 114-year-old franchise. Basically, they need to do the exact opposite of Disney’s John Carter when it comes to marketing the TV show.

If they just take these steps, there is a solid chance that the John Carter of Mars TV show could finally do the sci-fi hero justice.