Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future is a science fiction-action television series, merging live action with animation based on computer-generated images, that ran for 22 episodes in Canadian and American syndication.

[1][2][3] A production of Landmark Entertainment Group, Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future was created by Gary Goddard and Tony Christopher, and developed by Marc Scott Zicree, with J. Michael Straczynski becoming de facto head writer.

[4] The storyline was set on Earth in the 22nd century following the Metal Wars, a cybernetic revolt that resulted in the subjugation of the human race by intelligent machines.

Captain Jonathan Power and a small group of guerrilla fighters, called the "Soldiers of the Future", oppose the machine forces that dominate Earth.

Actor Timothy Dunigan, outfitted in his character's full regalia (one of the "Power Suits" of exoskeletal armor that Robert Short Productions created for the show), turned to the camera and delivered this line.

Volcania, center of the Bio-Dread Empire; stronghold and fortress of Lord Dread (David Hemblen), feared ruler of this new order.

But from the fires of the Metal Wars arose a new breed of warrior, born and trained to bring down Lord Dread and his Bio-Dread Empire.

A group of scientists, led by Dr. Stuart Gordon Power (Bruce Gray), had begun working on an advanced supercomputer, called OverMind, capable of overriding the control systems which the world's armed forces used to operate the Bio-Mechs, and thus stop them, bringing an end to war.

But Dr. Power's closest associate, Dr. Lyman Taggart (David Hemblen), became impatient with the slow pace of the project and hooked himself up to the system, bringing the supercomputer to operational status.

OverMind achieves self-awareness and shares Taggart's beliefs as they take over Bio-Mech armies throughout the world and attack humanity in a conflict known as the Metal Wars.

He develops the "Power Suits", a combination of exoskeletal body armor and advanced weapons and prepares a number of prototypes for testing.

Taggart himself is severely wounded, and OverMind saves him by implanting cybernetic mechanisms into his body, eventually calling himself Lord Dread.

During the show's only season, there was a story arc involving Project New Order, Lord Dread's plan to eradicate human life and develop his ideal world.

The plan consisted of four stages: Captain Power's group uses a system of teleportation portals, called "transit gates", both to move quickly around North America and to keep their base's location secret.

He commented about Pilot's death, revealing that the scene was inspired by an especially tragic event in his own past:[5] "I've never talked about this before—said I was in a thoughtful mood—but I've known several people, friends, who've taken their own lives.

Two characters were to have been introduced: Chris "Ranger" O'Connor, a woman who would be Tank's love interest; and Private Chip "TNT" Morrow, a soldier who had appeared in the first season under the name of Andy Jackson.

Dread would also have gained a new assistant called Morgana II, a machine with the mind of his former lover – who would have proven to be Jonathan Power's mother.

OverMind would have taken a larger role in the war and revealed a hidden agenda: after digitizing all the remaining human beings, it would erase them from existence.

The inclusion of a "Bio-Dread Youth", which recruited young survivors to Lord Dread's ideals to further advance his agenda, also paralleled fascist regimes.

Captain Power attempted to appeal to both children and adult audiences, with its dark, post-apocalyptic storyline showing the aftermath of nuclear war and featured allegories on topics such as Nazism.

In an article from Starlog #128 written by Marc Shapiro with quotes from one of the writers of the show, Larry DiTillio, there are the following statements: But for all those noble sentiments, Captain Power, to the public at large, is perceived as just another excuse to sell toys.

But DiTillio, a first season staff writer who became story editor when J. Michael Straczynski (Starlog #111) left the position for a similar post with the revived Twilight Zone, claimed that ramrodding the script side of Captain Power hasn't been easy.

It's a desperation resulting from dealing with cliché story submissions that have come streaming in amid the confusion about how childlike or adult Captain Power is.

You would have found out what Dread became, what happened to Power's mother, where Eden was (and there would be direct contact), what the secret was in Soaron's programming, and so on".

[12] For British viewing, the BBC and the commercial ITV network as well as its stations gave them thumbs down on the series, so they enabled the British cable channel Super Channel to pick up the series, despite the fact they have lobbying from the distributors, which was set to air beginning in 1988, given by the fact the present climate on Britain over sex, violence and commercialism in programming.

A promotional video produced months before the series aired featured a sixth "Soldiers of the Future" member: Colonel Nathan "Stingray" Johnson, a specialist in seaborne operations.

The series would be a one-hour weekly drama, looking at both sides of the post-apocalyptic conflict, starting with the origins of characters (which were only touched upon halfway through the first season).

[35] There is a video game for Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future, published by Box Office Software in 1987 for the PC, and 1988 for Commodore 64.