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Professional athletes seem like the real-life equivalent of superheroes, don’t they? They accomplish feats of strength, agility and skill far beyond the capabilities of mortal beings. Evidently, ESPN Films and Marvel Entertainment see that similarity as well.

The two companies have teamed up, Avengers-style, to produce a feature-length documentary and series of short films that combine interviews and footage of a wide variety of athletes including Russell Wilson, Dwight Howard, Brandi Chastain, Henrik Lundqvist and Cal Ripken Jr. with Marvel Comics images animated into motion. The idea behind this series is the question of whether or not athletes (and superheroes) are born or created.

Here is a trailer for the documentary, titled 1 of 1: Genesis. If you’ve ever thought to yourself that a NHL goalie suiting up for a game is like Tony Stark putting on his Iron Man armor to fight the bad guys, this is the film for you.

The feature-length movie can now be purchased on demand, available through Google Play and YouTube for $14.99.

The accompanying short film series, titled 1 of 1: Origins will debut this summer on SportsCenter and run on all of ESPN’s digital platforms. Each of the shorts will focus on a single athlete and, much like their Marvel Comics counterparts, will depict an origin story that explains how he or she developed their abilities and achieved greatness in their chosen sports.

All of the films will be directed by Eric Drath, who helmed the “3o for 30” film No Mas and also oversaw a short documentary for Marvel about its comic book miniseries Civil War. Dan Silver, who has worked on several “30 for 30” films for ESPN and other sports-themed content, is the producer on this project. Other ESPN on-air personalities and Marvel creative talent, along with several sports science experts, are also interviewed.

This isn’t the first time ESPN and Marvel have collaborated on content. In ESPN the Magazine‘s 2010 NBA preview, Marvel produced comic book-style covers for each of the 30 teams. This year, the two combined forces on a series of variant covers for eight Marvel titles created to promote ESPN’s College Football Playoff.

Marvel Comics

As you can see, heroes such as Captain America, Spider-Man and the Hulk are “in” for the event. The comics with the specialty covers went on sale Jan. 7.

“The overlap between Marvel Comics and ESPN is immense, and we’re going to continue to explore that zone,” Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Axel Alonso told Comic Book Resources. “Professional athletes are the closest things to real-world superhumans. They’re genetically bestowed with great power, they learn to use that power, and then they square off against equally powerful opponents on a playing field.”

About Ian Casselberry

Ian is a writer, editor, and podcaster. You can find his work at Awful Announcing and The Comeback. He's written for Sports Illustrated, Yahoo Sports, MLive, Bleacher Report, and SB Nation.

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