If there is one unmade movie that is the Holy Grail of film projects, then a live-actionThundercatsmovie has to be it. Since the animated series of the 80s ended, its popularity has not waned, and while there have been attempts to bring the feline-human hybrids to the big screen it has so far been just out of reach. Instead, we have been given broken promises, one half-decent reboot in 2011 andThundercats Roarin 2020…but let’s try not to remember that. Instead, let’s focus on the news that if aThundercatsmovie does finally come to fruition, new Captain AmericaAnthony Mackiewould like to play the role of Panthro.
Like many of the most loved and remembered franchises of the 1980s,Thundercatscame with an awesome toy line, badass cartoon series complete with epic theme song, and a promise that one day it could evolve into something bigger. While the likes ofMasters of the Universemanaged to bring their hero He-Man to the big screen,Thundercatswas an entirely different prospect, due mostly to the alien landscapes, monstrous mutants and theThundercatsthemselves being something that, at the time, a studio budget would not stretch to with the amount of prosthetics and sets needed to make even a half decent movie.
However, thirty years on and despite many rumors and false starts, the mythical prospect of aThundercatsmovie is still something that remains out of reach. While appearing at Fan Expo New Orleans last weekend,The Falcon and The Winter Soldierstar Mackie revealed that when they do make a film based onThundercats, then he would certainly like to be involved. He said:
“I pre-existed the whole Pokemon, anime [craze]. I wasn’t into comic books, any of that stuff. So I was a big ThunderCats fan. My goal, when they make the ThunderCats movie, is that I want to be the blue dude. What’s his name? Panthro! That’s what I want to be when I grow up. If Kelsey Grammer can be Beast, I want to be Panthro. Both of us can be blue.”
Thundercats Is The Movie All Fans Want, But No One Wants To Make
Thundercatstold the story of a group of aliens who escape their home planet of Thundera just before it is destroyed. Crash landing years later on Third Earth, there they encounter the villainous entity of evil known as Mumm-Ra and a gang of Mutants led by the reptilian Slithe, who want to take the magical Sword of Omens from the leader of the Thundercats, Lion-O. Despite the series even now still being a hugely popular IP, which has seen toy company release new collectors edition figures retailing around $50 each and a huge 27 inch long Thundertank selling for over $450, all attempts to being the franchise to the big screen has failed to get off the ground, with no one seemingly wanting the responsibility of doing the film justice.
The latest attempt to develop a movie version of the franchise seemed to be gaining momentum in March,whenGodzilla vs. Kongdirector Adam Wingard was said to be helming a new cartoon seriesfor Warner Bros. who are probably still licking their wounds from the backlash theirThundercats Roar!series gained after abandoning the original serious cartoon for something bright, colorful and comedic. It was said that this latest series will be a “jumping point” to a potential movie, although whether that will be the live-action version fans have been demanding for decades remains to be seen.
