There are plenty of real-life pictures of Justin Trudeau sparring in the ring, and that’s just the look a Toronto artist was looking for when he was asked to immortalize the prime minister as a superhero on an upcoming Marvel Comics cover.

Trudeau will be featured as a Canadian boxer on a variant cover of issue No. 5 of “Civil War II: Choosing Sides” that will be available Aug. 31.

Toronto artist Ramon Perez was thrilled to be asked by Marvel to depict the prime minister he “happily voted for.”

Perez says he didn’t want to show the young prime minister in a suit or stuffy political pose. Instead, a grinning Trudeau is shown sitting in the corner of a boxing ring wearing a maple leaf tank, red gloves and black shorts.

Around Trudeau on the cover are Puck, Sasquatch and Aurora, members of Canadian superhero squad Alpha Flight. Iron Man stands off in the background.

“This is a pretty good pop culture high point for Justin Trudeau,” Perez told CTV’s News Channel Tuesday, noting that not many real-life figures are featured on comic book covers. President Barack Obama and late boxing icon Muhammad Ali are among the few who have made appearances.

Trudeau does follow in the footsteps of his late father and former prime minister, Pierre, who graced the pages of "Uncanny X-Men" in 1979.

Justin Trudeau appeals to a younger demographic who will appreciate his comic character, Perez said.

“He brings a nice personality back to Canada and I was actually very proud to be part of this and to bring him to the international stage on a pop cultural level.”

In real life, Trudeau is often depicted working out in the ring.

He gained a lot of attention before his bid for prime minister when he took on Senator Patrick Brazeau in a charity boxing match in 2012 and won on a technical knockout. Trudeau wasn’t expected to beat the beefier Brazeau who has martial arts training.

The variant cover featuring Trudeau will be an alternative to the main cover in circulation showcasing Aurora, Puck, Sasquatch and Nick Fury.

Edmonton-born artist and writer Chip Zdarsky said he was approached by Marvel to write an Alpha Flight story and knew right away he wanted Trudeau included.

"I kind of figured to do a story about Canada right now and not take that opportunity to put Trudeau in seemed like a waste.

"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," Zdarsky added, laughing.

Zdarsky reached out to the Prime Minister's Office to inform them of his plans and was told that, while they couldn't endorse the comic, they were fine with him proceeding.

Trudeau isn’t just a walk-on in the storyline. The Alpha Flight team seek out his advice about how to deal with a mysterious new Marvel character, Ulysses, who can predict future events.

"It's a little tricky just because once you start to put words in the prime minister's mouth, we acknowledge that this is basically Trudeau fan fiction," he added.

"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?"

With files from The Canadian Press