The adventures of a group of uniquely Canadian superheroes, each with their own special skills and abilities, continue in the second season of the award winning transmedia action/adventure web series HEROES OF THE NORTH, premiering soon on various platforms including Youtube, Blip.TV, DailyMotion, Metacafe, and on the show’s official web site (see links below). Previously covered on this blog, HEROES OF THE NORTH, created by Christian Viel, who also co-wrote the second season with Yann and Michel Brouillette (also in the show’s ensemble cast, more on that later), debuted in 2010 with twenty episodes, and is about to launch an IndieGoGo campaign to raise funds for the show’s second season of ten episodes, plus five ‘stand-alone’ episodes (not part of the show’s continuing storyline) if enough money is raised.

(Note: The show has been translated and subtitled in French, and while Viel says that several have volunteered to translate it into other languages, there are no plans as of yet to make the series closed-captioned for deaf and hard of hearing audiences; however he hopes that given the complicated and inadequate ‘auto-caption’ system that Youtube currently provides, there will be a few who will volunteer to caption the show for the hearing impaired).

HEROES OF THE NORTH follows an elite group of super heroes, each representing a different province of the country, who work together to fight crime under the auspices of a Canadian government entity known as the CDO (Canadian Defense Organization).

The show stars Larry Vinette (last year’s recipient of the ‘Mr. Canada’ award as the nation’s best bodybuilder) as the group’s leader, simply known as The Canadian (representing Ottawa), Edith Labelle as Fleur-de-Lys (Quebec’s only officially sanctioned superhero, according to Viel), Anderson Bradshaw (who also served as the show’s fight coordinator and costume designer) as the mysterious Montreal vigilante 8 Ball, John Fallon as the drug-addicted hero Black Terror (also of Montreal), Vanessa Blouin as Northern Quebec’s superhero Nordik, Christina Sciortino as rookie superhero Acadia (representing New Brunswick), plus Michel Brouillette as the Canadian Shield, and Yann Brouillette as CDO scientist Alpha Q. Among the villains they face include Anne-Marie Losique as Madame Doom, Bianca Beauchamp as Crimson, Pia Metni as Masquerade, and Constantine Kourtidis as the wicked Medusa Commander, whose character became a major factor as the show’s first season progressed.

New additions to the show’s cast include Kalinka Petrie as Manitoba’s own superhero Voda, plus Sandra Belrose as Alberta’s Wild Rose, Meghan Gabruch as Saskana (representing Saskatchewan), plus BATTLESTAR GALACTICA’s Matthew Bennett as a major officer for the CDO. Yet, for every new superhero, there’s a new super villain, and the newest crop of heavies that the heroes of the Great White North face in season 2 are just as dangerous: Cephalos (who could be a puppet, or an animated character, according to Viel), and the deadly assassin Mantis (played by Marie Ty).

While the first season of HEROES OF THE NORTH took time to develop the show’s storyline and characters, Viel says that viewers can expect a lot more action – and a lot more heroes and villains – in the show’s second season. “Season 1 was a slow build, introducing all the characters, the villains and building up to the Medusa Commander’s nefarious plan. Season 2 goes full tilt boogie in that direction, so expect more action, more exotic locales, and more characters as almost all the Canadian heroes will have to help the Eastern based ones. We have created at least one superhero for each province and territories this time around.  Everyone will be represented! We are also aiming to tremendously increase the production value this time around.”

Viel and his small crew set out to create a unique web series that not only extends itself to different mediums (including downloadable comic books depicting the show’s heroes and villains), but also a series that was uniquely Canadian, from its characters to its storyline, through which HEROES OF THE NORTH reflects the nation’s history and culture – both good and bad. “I wanted to do a superhero show for over a decade, so it was fairly easy, once we committed to it. We used some old ideas, bits from some of the scripts we had developed, existing production sketches and basically amalgamated all that into some sort of a concept. From there, co-creator Anderson Bradshaw started pulling sketches of what would basically become the characters. We knew that we wanted to touch upon Canadian implication in World War II, talk about the separatist movement in Quebec and the nastier aspects of it, the tensions in the relations between Quebec and the rest of Canada, and so on.”

Season 2 of HEROES OF THE NORTH promises more action, more thrills, and more heroes and villains – while also trying to define what really makes a superhero. “One of the themes we explore during Season 2 is the things we have to do for the so-called ‘greater good’. We are also exploring what it is like for a disparate group of individuals, usually spread out over such a large country, with various origins, cultures and languages, to work together and collaborate against a common threat. We also want to explore the morality of getting patents on genes and life itself, and in the case of at least one of our characters, what it means to be a hero and a leader in a world where there is no black and white, only grey tones.”

ON THE WEB: www.heroesofthenorth.com

YOUTUBE: http://www.youtube.com/user/HeroesOfTheNorth/

BLIP.tv: http://blip.tv/heroes-of-the-north

DailyMotion: http://www.dailymotion.com/movieseals

METACAFE: http://www.metacafe.com/channels/movieseals/

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/northernheroes

TWITTER: https://twitter.com/northernheroes