Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Following Dad’s Footsteps, Appearing In Marvel Comic Book

Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s comic book version will be appearing in Issue #5 of Civil War II: Choosing Sides, which is scheduled to be released on August 31.

Trudeau, wearing a white tank top with a maple leaf and red boxing gloves, graces the variant cover of the comic book. Behind him are Aurora, Sasquatch, and Puck, members of the Alpha Flight, a team of Canadian superheroes first introduced in the April 1979 issue of X-Men. Iron Man is also on the cover. The main cover of the issue features Nick Fury and the three Alpha Flight members on Justin Trudeau’s variant cover.

Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau has joined the Marvel comic book universe https://t.co/bFVmCr5r91 pic.twitter.com/pIctgCQUAB

— Hollywood Reporter (@THR) June 29, 2016

Justin Trudeau is following the footsteps of his father, former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, who was featured in Volume 120 of The Uncanny X-Men, released in 1979, as The Huffington Post reports.

How did the Prime Minister of Canada end up being in a comic book?

Chip Zdarsky, a Canadian artist and writer, was commissioned by Marvel to come up with a story that features Alpha Flight. Zdarsky immediately thought of including Justin Trudeau in the storyline.

“He seems to be the popular culture association with Canada right now, right behind (Toronto Rapper) Drake — and I probably couldn’t get Drake in the comic.”

Of course, Zdarsky had to ask for Trudeau’s permission first. He contacted Justin Trudeau’s office to pitch the idea and was told that although they could not promote the comic book, they are giving their blessing to Zdarsky to proceed with the idea.

A spokesperson from Marvel provided Mashable with a short premise of the comic book’s storyline.

“Alpha Flight, once Canada’s premiere Super Hero team, now working globally for Captain Marvel, seek the advice of their old boss — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.”

Ramon Perez, an award-winning cartoonist based in Toronto, did the artwork for the comic book. Instead of drawing Justin Trudeau wearing a suit like what he usually wears in public, Perez opted to clothe the Prime Minister in boxing gear, as he told The Chronicle Herald.

“I wanted to kind of evoke a little bit of what’s different about him than other people in power right now. You don’t see Obama strutting around in boxing gear, doing push-ups in commercials or whatnot. Just throwing him in his gear and making him almost like an everyday person was kind of fun.”

The idea of Justin Trudeau in boxing gear is not just random, though. Trudeau is an accomplished boxer and once said that he boxes at least once a week. In 2012, Trudeau beat Senator Patrick Brazeau in just three rounds of a boxing match to benefit charity.

Civil War II: Choosing Sides Issue #5 features Ulysses, a new Marvel character with the ability to predict events happening in the future with high accuracy. While Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel is all for using Ulysses to stop crimes before they occur, Tony Stark/Iron Man thinks that punishment should come after the crime has been done.

While Alpha Flight is in favor of using Ulysses’ ability, there is also division within the group, and they seek advice from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Zdarsky describes the comic book as “Trudeau fan fiction,” and he thought of how Trudeau will respond to the Alpha Flight’s dilemma.

“I had to kind of think about where he would stand on something like that and how he would handle it. Hopefully, I did a good job. Maybe I’ll get a call from him saying: ‘How could you have me saying that to… Iron Man?'”

The comic book will be available on August 31, and pre-orders are accepted on the Digital Store of Marvel and other retailers.

[AP Photo/Thibault Camus]