My first contact with John Carter was probably the late '70s comics. When the Disney movie came out I had all but forgotten about the plot and characters, except for the green guy and Carter's wide '70s boots. Something didn't feel quite right about the movie though.
I'm fairly convinced that most franchises would work better in the slower tempo allowed by the TV-series format. If there's a clear point to be made, 90-130 minutes is fine. But then again, movies with strong plots can be a chore to rewatch. In this regard I think John Carter does well. Carter, being a more passive hero, works as a vehicle which... carts us around to the various attractions. I also rather liked the design of the Tharks, and Woola's skull joint, and the general polish. Overall it was good entertainment.
The John Carter books are hard, if not practically impossible to translate more faithfully into a blockbuster movie. The Grand exotic environments, creatures, battles, and even a simple thing like the mossy ground makes it expensive to shoot/render. There are some suspect moral ideas being peddled, and of course the omnipresent nudity.
Curious, I decided to read the books to see what was different. As they were written a century ago, librivox had them for free in audiobook format, which suited me well as I can listen and draw at the same time. This way, I've "read" hundreds of pulp sci-fi stories in recent years.
One appeal of the books is that the reader can imagine beaming to Barsoom and getting those super-powers, speculating how such a story would play out (like the Ulysses Paxton character did). Perhaps the Barsoom series is an early form of Isekai, but Carter's actions almost seem to lack persistence. In Isekai animé a core concept is that the main character is a bit like the reader, and operates as a great force of change in the new world, introducing new ideas and morals.
By replacing Carter the world of Barsoom could be explored from a different perspective. A book or comic format can handle nudity and scale, and would pace better. The world building would need greater consistency... more carefully considering which technologies and mental abilities are widespread.
My reading progress:
Barsoom is old, and stagnant, if not in slow decline. It's a "dying planet". There could be ancient artefacts to unearth. Perhaps its people are now building things they no longer understand. It's already mentioned that their "lightbulbs" will operate for thousands of years. Their fliers are pretty slow, more akin to streamlined blimps with propellers. Guns might not be repeat-fire, but more like clumsy (though powerful) muskets. Given that it's more of a fantasy setting, I'd certainly tone down scientific progress (the later books ramp it up). Detailed knowledge of the Earth (via powerful viewing machines) seems a bit out of place too. Perhaps they looked at Earth in the past but it wasn't all that interesting then (just savages). Given their own decline, perhaps they assumed the same of "Jasoom", so they haven't bothered looking since.
I didn't at all get the impression that the Barsoomian skin colours correspond to earthly ones. I visualised them as literal and exaggerated when reading.
We begin with the heroine, "Zoraya Yongheng" (for now). The juxtaposition of an African and Chinese name is to suggest she's well travelled, but there's also a hidden meaning...
It's 1865 and she's in the middle east, with a purpose suggested by western explorer clothes. Camels, rocky wilderness, a camp site/small oasis. As dusk draws near, she tells (in a foreign tongue) her escort (luggage man) to stay behind - she'll be back before sunset. As she walks into a river valley, she doesn't notice she's being followed. Having found a particular spot on a slope, she begins to move boulders aside, revealing a hidden tomb. Is our heroine a tomb-raiding scoundrel? As she pushes the lid of the sarcophagus off, we're again given a hint of her strength. Inside the sarcophagus is a small stash of gold bars and gems - but strangely no corpse.
Loot in bag, she prepares exits the tomb, but the way out is blocked by uniformed men. Her escort brought government agents, or rather, English colonials seeking to confiscate the treasure. They ask the escort to translate their commands, but are surprised to find her responding in English.
Not at all convinced by the story that the gold is actually hers, the officers prepare to make the arrest. A scuffle, and she manages to flee wounded into a river. Drifting, she spots a landmark (familiar?), dives and reappears inside a hidden chamber. The officers give up. The escort reenters the tomb and wipes the dust off the wall painting, upon which a portrait is etched, bearing a striking resemblance to the heroine...
She sits on the floor in her hiding place, examining the wound, then lies down, looking up at the single, slanted hole in the roof. The sun has set. A dot comes into view - Mars. She gazes for a while, transfixed, then her eyes close. Dead?
Pop! Suddenly, blinding daylight and she's 50 feet up in the air, falling. Ground closes fast. Thump! A hill of soft moss dampens the impact somewhat. Dazed, she tries to stand up, but has trouble keeping balance. Wound is gone. Clothes are gone! She looks around. Just moss. Wait, there's something at a crest, glinting.
The remains of a lost fleet.
Clumsily, she comes upon a wreck of a ship and its scattered cargo. Investigating, she finds sealed crates containing plenty of old weapons, straps and peculiar harnesses. There could also be a portrait, showing a few soldiers of Helium. She gears up accordingly. In the process of retrieving an ornate silver flute, she tips over some scraps which fall, making a terrible ruckus. Something growls. Two Banths (giant tigers) had lay sleeping under a domed hull piece nearby and are now on the prowl. She decides to flee from the massive predators, making long uncontrolled leaps towards a tower structure at the horizon. A river (no, it's an ancient and eroded manmade canal?) blocks her escape. She makes a giant leap over it, leaving her pursuers behind.
Vegetation here consists of trees, separating crop fields irrigated by the nearby river. Still worried about more banths, and looking for answers, she approaches the tower. Around it there is a wall which she attempts to jump up on. Failing, but she lands on the edge and falls clumsily into the courtyard. Around her lies dozens of headless human bodies. There's a shrill, alien alarm sound... maybe that of an animal. Silent guards approach, swords drawn. They look like a bulbous head-crab riding a human body. All around here, black, more head-crabs scuttle in, attaching themselves to the headless bodies, which then rise. While preparing to jump, she's captured by a net. She begins to tear it apart, but is stunned.
Black Banths are mostly active during night, mostly.
Captured, she finds that the tower belongs to Luud, the master of this community of beings, called the Kaldane. They are cold but polite (matter-of-fact) creatures... that plan to have her for dinner once "fattened up". In her cell she plays the silver flute, which softens, then enthrals Ghek, her assigned cell guard. They begin to talk. During the day, the Kaldanes work the fields, and during the night, the black banths come out. Escape seems difficult. Ghek intends to keep her as company, disobeying orders. Luud, now irritated by Ghek's faulty, emotional behaviour, orders Ghek dead. Ghek tells heroine of a working ship in the ship graveyard nearby. He could likely repair and operate it, even though the Kaldanes themselves have no use of ships.
Together they defeat Luud and its impressive body (Rykor) and surrounding bodyguards. This further highlights her true strength on Mars and that the Kaldanes aren't quite the super-creatures they thought themselves.
Not the Millennium Falcon they were hoping for.
Ghek is a bit of a Zarkov/Spock (scientist with ego) and decides to join her further adventures (perhaps with an ulterior motive). Later they somehow encounter and convince a skeleton of Jupiter (scout party?) to work with them. Because the heroine is good, and that's not always fun, the skeleton has evil tendencies which are let loose every now and then (I'm reminded of DoctorWho's Leela).
So that's the trio. If Ghek is cold brains (with an unwittingly mischievous character), Zoraya is strength, will and moral compass, and skeleton guy might be stealth, comic relief, chaos. Eventually they broker a peace between Helium and the Tharks, befriend Tars Tarkas, etc. Could pretty much paraphrase the original adventures from there-on. I don't know what the carrot/arc would be for the heroine however. I think, in series form, what matters more is the thing of the moment.
Fast one-man striker.
Not the fastest hunk of junk on Barsoom. Designed for a low altitude city defence role, attacking incoming troop landers and infantry on the ground when needed. The upper deck has more armour. Though now replaced by more fashionable, faster ships, many of these old frigates have survived scrapping thanks to their sturdiness and manoeuvring core strength, and now operate as unarmed tugs. By upgrading (with ancient artefacts) the flotation tanks, manoeuvring core (containing the 8th ray I believe) and props, the protagonists somehow manage to make this ship very fast. It can make the Kaol-Helium run in less than 12 zodes.
Flak frigate. During stationary battles, ships often divert power to strafing movements rather than going fast in a straight line. These movements can be compensated for mechanically in the onboard gun sights, but enemy movements have to be gauged by intuition.
Private luxury ships more closely imitate the sea faring ships of ancient times.