When people today think of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, naturally names like Thor, Iron Man, and Captain America come up amongst the first five answers. Soon people may start to say Ant-Man, Quicksilver, The Vision, Daredevil, or even Jessica Jones. But one thing for sure is that no one is likely ever to associate Crash Ryan with any Avengers team. Yet, he is the next Marvel Comics property to head to the big screen.

According to Variety, producer of the upcoming ‘Short Circuit’ remake Ryan Heppe has acquired the film rights to the 1984 series ‘Crash Ryan’ and brought on screenwriter David Cowper to develop the script. Created by ‘Star Trek’ comic strip artist Ron Harris, the four-issue series set in an alternate 1935 filled with airplanes followed a heroic pilot as he faced an evil masked villain known The Doom and his followers. The comic was released under the Epic Comics banner and was among the first creator-owned published by Marvel. The character went on to reappear in another four-part story in ‘Dark Horse Presents’ in 1990.

Currently, the film is going by the title ‘Crash Ryan and the Eyes of Lemuria’ and is based on a 50-page outline by Heppe and Harris that is described as “an earthbound, steampunk-inspired fusion of ‘Indiana Jones’ and ‘Star Wars.’” Harris went on to further describe the forces that inspired his creation:

“‘Crash Ryan’ is the product of a mishmash of influences: my childhood spent on Navy airbases; the old flying movies and Masked Villain serials I loved on late night TV, and especially my fascination with predictions of future life made in the 1930s.”

Heppe added that in addition to this interesting world of Crash Ryan, he was drawn to this particular tale because of it’s flawed hero:

“It’s an incredible canvas, but what attracted me was the redemption story: a man who can’t save himself being tasked with saving the world.”

So far, there are no details regarding which studio will be releasing ‘Crash Ryan,’ who will direct and star, and whether or not Marvel will be involved in any way.

While we wait for these things to come together, what do you think about ‘Crash Ryan and the Eyes of Lemuria’ entering development? Considering the plethora of creator-owned material in Marvel’s history, are you surprised that this is the one that gets picked up for a big screen adaptation? Share your thoughts in the comments below.