Spiderman and Green Lantern, move aside: a new breed of superheroes has arrived. The Guardians -- a group of 30 superheroes based on your favourite NHL teams -- are fighting together against the evils of Deven Dark and his posse of villainous femme fatales.
A combined effort of legendary Stan Lee, POW! Entertainment, and the NHL, this new comic sensation, though geared towards younger audiences, leaves older fans in stitches over its intense cheese factor. Already being released piece by piece on its official site, avid viewers follow individual NHL superheroes -- each imbued with his own powers distinctive to the city and team from which he hails -- as they combat individual battles in an overarching war against evil.
Brought to life by Vicon House of Moves (Ironman 2), I'm curious to see exactly where and how far this web-comic phenomenon will go.
Key Themes Behind This Trend
- Sports Heroes
- Sporting leagues can collaborate with comic artists like Stan Lee to create a powerful superhero universe around their players.
- Nostalgic Entertainment
- Traditional media companies can recreate popular superhero characters and storylines to appeal to new audiences.
- Digital Adventures
- Media producers can leverage technology to distribute and monetize comics or other types of media with a younger target audience.
Where This Applies
- Sports
- Sports franchises can expand their reach by collaborating with creatives to create merchandise and games with highly-engaging brand associations.
- Entertainment
- Entertainment companies can extend the shelf-life of popular franchises by creating new storylines, products, and media to keep fans engaged.
- Digital Media
- Digital natives and apps like Instagram, Tik Tok, or Youtube could partner with companies to produce interactive content that engages younger audiences and promotes digital literacy.
