With the release of John Carter, Disney sought to start a new series in March 2012, starring Taylor Kitsch in the titular character. He had a lot going for him on paper. In the spirit of the Pirates of the Caribbean films, it was a pulp adventure narrative based on an existing property, especially Edgar Rice Burrows’ novel A Princess of Mars, well known for the creation of Tarzan. It was not to be, alas. There were no sequels made despite the $284 million in box office receipts from Andrew Stanton’s picture, but it was written off as a failure. Even yet, Stanton disclosed at the “Directors on Directing” panel at San Diego Comic-Con, chaired by Steve Weintraub, that he had his own plans for the sequels.
Gods of Mars and Warlord of Mars would have been the titles for the second and third films, respectively, according to Stanton. Additionally, Stanton provided some concept drawings and maps with the audience in Hall H, as well as the film’s storylines. When John Carter returned to Mars after a ten-year absence, he asserted, Gods of Mars would have been in full swing. “For a decade, John Carter lived on Earth. Matai Shang kidnaps his wife Dejah, who gave birth to their child while he was away. When Carter returns to Mars, he discovers Dejah has returned to the river, where she believes she will find the Thurns and their kidnapped child. In a subterranean metropolis governed by a race known as the Firstborn, Carter and Tars Tarkas (Willem Dafoe’s character) find each other and follow each other down the river after they reconnect. Moreover, their technology is far more advanced than that seen on Earth or Mars.
And they’ve been in charge of the planet’s water, air, food, and plants that devour you from the beginning. They’re also fervent devotees of Isis, a real-life deity. This Goddess is actually Matai Shang, our shapeshifting adversary, who does it for a living. For the Firstborn, Matai will be revealed as a phoney deity by Carter, who will then track down his son who was commanded to assassinate Carter. Carter comes dangerously close to killing his own kid since Matai has genetically altered him to be an adult. All of this culminates in a dramatic conclusion. Helium airships drop into a dormant volcano in order to save our heroes from their peril. The three of them are reunited, as is Carter’s manchild son, Dejah. The Reds, Greens, and Firstborns have surrounded the Thurns and are chasing them away.” With Warlord of Mars, he predicted that the Therns would be on the run to the Northern Hemisphere of Mars, where they would begin the process of fleeing to Earth while rendering Mars uninhabitable.
Stanton went on to say, “Carter has a race against time to find the Therns and eliminate them before they destroy the planet. For this reason, the Thurn spies keep assuming the identities of other Martian leaders and causing internal strife and chaos, much like Putin and the bots are doing right now. As a result, the Martians are too preoccupied fighting amongst themselves to concentrate on uniting and eradicating the Therns. Carter is assassinated by assassins who destroy a technology that may have detected the Thurns, but the viewer is reminded it was merely a copy, and his real body is awakened on Earth.
After a brief encounter with Thurn Pinkertons who are ready to kill Edgar with a shotgun, Carter returns to Mars, but keeps his existence a secret, and goes up to the top of the world to confront our villain Matai Shang while the threat of World War looms large over the world. He is aided by his wife and son. The Thurns are stopped and Mars is saved by the Warlord of Mars, who is given an official title.”
If the first picture was a hit, Stanton was granted additional leeway to explore the science fiction aspects of the story. A few people were baffled as to what the movie was about when it was renamed John Carter of Mars instead of John Carter of Mars because of this. With the exception of John Carter, Stanton is most recognised as the director of Finding Nemo, Finding Dory, and WALL-E for Pixar. He also co-wrote and co-directed the first three Toy Story movies, as well as A Bug’s Life. When it comes to directing live-action, he has worked on Stranger Things and Better Call Saul, as well as writing the last episodes of Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Disney+ subscribers may now watch John Carter on the service.