Sneaky Zebra is a couple of creative guys from the UK whose work you may have seen on your YouTube thing or even around here (their Doctor Who cooking mashup, for one). Gary Scullion and Nick Acott are trying to make another, somewhat more ambitious video, and they’re on Kickstarter looking for help financing it. It’s a short Luke Cage fan film, intended as a spec film to show what a live-action take on the Marvel character would be (without Marvel’s participation, it should be noted, and on a not-for-profit basis; the guys say that there have been other similar Marvel character projects done by third parties on a spec, nonprofit basis that have been successfully funded through Kickstarter, so there’s that). It’s about showing what can be done with one of the less-well-known characters in the Marvel Universe.

So, what do Gary and Nick think can be done with Luke Cage? Here’s the plot synopsis:

Luke is (an) innocent man who finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time and endeavours to make the best of a bad situation.

We find him already spending time behind bars and, despite his good behaviour, is singled out and bullied by a prison guard who abuses his position of power; however things are about to change. When a chance to escape presents itself Luke makes his move and this time he gets more than just a ‘spring in his step’!

However, the wake of his escape has drawn attention from various strategic departments who are keen to find out just what happened, and will let no one stand in their way to obtain to the answers they seek.

And they explain further about the project:

Built on the foundation of Luke Cage from the comics over the years we’ve given our own Sneaky Zebra style to it.

A great inspiration for us was the first Iron Man film which does an amazing job at creating a grounded and realistic superhero film – you only have to believe Tony Stark is a genius who can create Arc reactor technology and the rest writes itself.

We wanted to capture a similar feel, with tense drama and high action, making our film easily slot right into the Marvel universe.

We will see Luke becoming more than just his former self but how he comes to grips with his new abilities and the consequences these will have on those who held him back before.

The money would go towards equipment, actors, and location/set dressing — most of the crew is working for free. They aim to shoot over three days with the Black Magic Cinema Camera and hope to be able to rent a better lighting setup than they usually use. And that’s the impetus for the Kickstarter, which is looking for a relatively modest £3,128. With 15 days to go, they’re over halfway there. There are, of course, premiums for pledging, including a DVD or limited Blu-Ray of the film and more for £50, all the way up to Executive Producer credit and a walk-on role (you have to get yourself to London) for £500.

The Kickstarter’s open until 2:14 AM ET on June 21st. Find out more and make a pledge by clicking here.