The head of Virgin, Richard Branson, has apparently had a hand in getting the rights to Dan Dare: Pilot of the Future to Virgin Comics to be restarted as a comic and a possible film.

"Dan Dare is a heroic, thoughtful and fiercely independent character...I was an avid reader of his epic journeys."

Were Branson's words through the article in Variety, and Garth Ennis, the comic writer who is set to bring the character back in November said:

"Dan Dare is the quintessential British hero...He's our Captain America, our Superman, our Batman; he's all of them rolled into one."

The character first appeared in Eagle Magazine in the 1950's, so it's a series with a lot of history. Recently it has returned to TV in a full CGI series.

The new comic series will see Dan Dare having been living in exile for years, however he just can't take what the world is putting itself through any more. The USA and Asia have emerged from a nuclear war with Britain now the remaining superpower.

There's no real word of when the feature film is to be developed or who is to be involved, other than Virgin, but they've started bringing comics to the big screen already and the biggest project is Guy Ritchie's Gamekeeper. I would guess that they'll wait to see if the comic is a success first.