Jay Baruchel to write Batgirl, The Flash and Nightwing stories at DC Comics

How to Train Your Dragon star Jay Baruchel plans to write an upcoming Nightwing and Batgirl anthology and issues of The Flash for DC.

Screen Rant recently caught up with Canadian actor, director and writer, Jay Baruchel. Those who are fans of the How to Train Your Dragon star, maybe privy to his inner comic book nerd. After all, before things fell through, he was in line to play Maxwell Lord in George Miller’s unproduced Justice League: Mortal film. Well, during his chat with the site, Baruchel revealed that he is set to have a story published in DC Comics’ upcoming Crimes of Passion anthology, which will center on Dick Grayson and Barbara Gordon. The anthology is set to drop on Valentine’s Day in 2020.

The pop culture outlet dug into Baruchel’s pre-existing work in comics before asking questions about the DC gig.  He’s also made his writing contributions for Captain Canuck at Chapterhouse Comics, in which he also assumed the role of Chief Creative Officer. In response to how he got the gig at DC, he said:

"“The short form of the story of how I got to do this was in some of the Chapterhouse work I was doing, I got to work alongside a guy called Van Jensen, who is a very talented artist in his own right and a really, really amazing writer. He and I jammed on a bunch of ideas and we did some work together, like the Captain Canuck: Invasion issue and a bunch of other stuff. He’s a very, very nice man who just went ahead and spoke on my behalf to DC and said ‘If there’s anything coming up, he’s a lifelong nerd and his interest in comics is pure and honest and earnest.”"

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For those not aware of this very obscure superhero, do not worry, despite being over four decades old, the character of Captain Canuck has not managed to break the mainstream since its first publication in 1975. Over the years, the rights to the character have been under four independent comic publishers, with Chapterhouse Comics being the latest company.

There is not much detail to explore with Captain Canuck, other than the first incarnation of the maple leaf champion was Thomas “Tom” Aaron Evans, a secret agent aligned with Canada’s very own covert intelligence agency (CISO) The Canadian International Security Organization, who gained superhuman strength from making contact with aliens. There are other individuals, who took on the mantle of Captain Canuck but, in the recent turnaround of issues, Evans has remained in the role. Think Marvel’s Guardian of Alpha Flight with a sample of Valiant’s X-O Manowar.

Aside from discussing Canada’s flagship character, Baruchel opened up about what he has lined up in addition to the anthology story. He revealed collaborating with Andrew Marino on The Flash comics. One can only imagine how the the actor is aiming to use these characters but, as a fan, he could have some interesting ideas planned out.