A few months back, news broke that director Michael Bay and actor Ryan Reynolds were teaming up for a new movie, based on an idea from Deadpool 2 writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick. The co-production from Netflix and Skydance Media will be distributed by Netflix and have the streaming service's biggest budget to date. Original reports were that the film, titled Six Underground, would be an event-level action movie, but that specific plot details were being kept under wraps. Now a new rumor suggests that the 'under wraps' part may have been more literal, because underneath those wraps may lurk Mumm-Ra. Yes, the rumor is that Ryan Reynolds and Michael Bay's new film is actually a ThunderCats movie.
The rumor comes courtesy of IGN, and goes as follows. Six Underground is set to begin production this November in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. IGN's source is reportedly working closely with the production team, and alleges the reports film being a war movie and the Six Underground name are just cover to hide the fact that this is actually an adaptation of ThunderCats. That popular cartoon series that ran from 1985 to 1989, and has remained iconic. This is so far only a rumor at this point so don't go swinging around the Sword of Omens in excitement just yet. But if it proves true, it would be pretty exciting for fans of the property.
ThunderCats (along with Masters of the Universe) always seemed like it has untapped cinematic potential, especially in this day and age of nostalgia. It would definitely be a major surprise for a ThunderCats movie to be this far along without people knowing. But Michael Bay has been associated with the property in the past, and Netflix knows nostalgia better than most. Six Underground being a ThunderCats movie would also explain some of the secrecy, and justify the film's sizable budget. And to get real deep into the conspiracy theory weeds, Six Underground could refer to the six ThunderCats themselves, Lion-O, Cheetara, Panthro, Wilykat, Wilykit and Tygra.
For those who aren't familiar with ThunderCats, it told the story of a group of catlike humanoid aliens who flee their dying homeworld and eventually settle on Third Earth. The ThunderCats are pursued to Third Earth by mutants who join up with an evil sorcerer Mumm-Ra in order to steal the Eye of Thundera from the heroes. In addition to the 80's series, there was also a short-lived series on Cartoon Network in 2011 and next year the ThunderCats will return to the channel with ThunderCats Roar.
If this rumor turns out to be true, I'm torn. Seeing ThunderCats get a big budget adaptation is awesome. But Michael Bay adapting another film based on a beloved cartoon series is causing some apprehension there. Still, having Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick involved is encouraging. Six Underground has also assembled a fun cast of potential ThunderCats, including Ryan Reynolds, Dave Franco, Adria Arjona, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo and Corey Hawkins, among others.
We'll keep you updated when we hear more about Six Underground and whether or not this rumor is true and the ThunderCats are actually getting a movie. In the meantime check out our premiere guide for all the movies coming to theaters the rest of this year.
