Pancake Man - The Next Big Superhero?

Superheroes are an American derived phenomena.  The rest of the world is now catching up and developing homegrown superheroes of their own.

'Pancake Man' Super spoof

Japan has had super-monsters since the 1950s with Godzilla, Rodan, Mothra etc. but no real superheroes in the Super-sense. Now, however, the rest of the world is determined to best the U.S. film industry at their own game.

Russia, for example has produced the 'Zaschitniki' (Guardians) series of movies.  The Zaschiniki are a group of men and women from various parts of the former Soviet Union who have been subjected to a DNA enhancing program that gives them special powers - such as a machine-gun welding bear.
'The Zaschiniki', spawned from the mind of Armenian director Sarik Andreasyan, is hoping to copy the success of U.S. conceived 'Avengers'. An make no mistake, not only is Russia, but India, Japan, and China are all up to speed on special effects, big-picture graphics, makeup and action-based camera techniques.

Mumbai-based Graphic India has a live-action movie entitled 'Chakra the Invincible' in the works. Chakra is a superhero that harnesses the power of energy nodes to fight crime.  They have gone so far as to invite comic superhero guru Stan Lee to assist in the marking of the Chakra movie. "I'm a fan of Bollywood films and am really excited about launching 'Chakra the Invincible' as my first Bollywood superhero movie.  I have no doubt the Chakra film will be a big hit in India and around the world. I hope my cameo in the film isn't edited out" says Lee.

One of 'Zaschitniki' in Russian superhero film

Of course, the gorilla in the superhero room is China. Their box office is predicted to overtake the U.S. by next year and there is lots of room for cinema growth. There, Marvel Comics recently announced plans to produce a Chinese superhero movie entitled 'Hero's Awakening'.  The film will be shot in Mandarin and be made specially for the Chinese market. Other than this film, the Chinese are hard-pressed at inventing any home-grown superheroes. Last year, 'Pancake Man', a comedy about a poor street vendor given special powers thanks to his excellent snacks, made mega-box office but one gets the feeling that the Chinese don't take the superhero genre very seriously,

Hmm.... but the Chinese may be on to something.  Moviegoers do have superhero fatigue and are looking for something different. Perhaps comedic superheroes are the answer.  Pancake Man, with his spatula skill-set, may be just what we need.