Believe it or not there have been talks about getting a live action Thundercats movie underway. A lot of us from the 80s and even 90s can remember watching the Thundercats and enjoying when Lion-O hefted the Sword of Omens and called in the troops. His well-rehearsed words and gestures that made the sword grow to battle-length were etched in each of our minds and became something that would recite from memory and probably still could if we really tried. But so far talking is all that seems to be happening with this movie as it hasn’t yet escalated to doing, as there are a lot of logistics to be figured out and a lot of work to be done before production can even begin. But there are so many people clambering for this movie to be made that one can only hope that the producers will find a way to make it happen and bring back one of our favorite childhood stories. Barring that, the only other concern would be whether or not they’d stay true to the source material and not go too far off script.
There are of course other reasons why we want this film to be made, and here are some of them.
The nostalgic part of it is a strong draw for a lot of fans.
There are those that have never forgotten some of their favorite cartoons and have been waiting patiently for Hollywood to come around and see that bringing them to the big screen would be a great idea. So the first Masters of the Universe and G.I. Joe weren’t big hits, that doesn’t mean that filmmakers couldn’t learn from those mistakes and create something truly special with Thundercats. It’s a great science fiction/fantasy story that captured the attention of many fans back in the day and held it for a good long while after. There’s some cheesy and campy aspects to it that could be hammered out and the overall idea could be worked and reworked until it was finally given a look that would satisfy even the most jaded critic. Thundercats was a great cartoon and it could be a fun and entertaining movie.
There are actors already lining up for the parts.
Just think of it, Milla Jovovich as Cheetara, Chris Hemsworth as Lion-O, Michael Jai White as Panthro, Hugh Jackman as Tygra, and Ian McKellan as Mumm-Ra. There would need to be a few other characters cast as well, but just starting out these names would lend a lot of credit to the film and would insure that at least a healthy number of people would be interested. Of course the pressure would be on at this point to make sure that he film was something great and not a colossal waste of time as other movies have been, but if a director was found that could live up to the challenge then it should work out just fine. The cast of this film would have to be spot-on and the story would have to be so compelling that people could ignore the fact that the cast is basically humanoids with different feline characteristics, who can fight since they’re expert warriors.
The villains could be so much better in live action.
If anyone remembers the villains from the original series, Mumm-Ra was perhaps the most terrifying since he could turn from a crippled old mummy to a beefed-up powerhouse that could go one on one with any of the Thundercats and come out on top. The only one he couldn’t really push around was Lion-O since the leader of the Thundercats was quite simply the strongest, even if he wasn’t the most experienced. With the advances in CGI however Mumm-Ra, perhaps just given voice by someone like Ian McKellan, could be absolutely horrifying and truly be a force to be reckoned with. The other bad guys in this film would be the toadies of Mumm-Ra and no doubt treated more like henchmen than anything, much as they were in the cartoon.
It would be something different for a change.
Lately the big three, DC, Marvel, and Star Wars have been dominating the screen when it comes to science fiction and fantasy. Perhaps it’s time to finally bring in something that hasn’t been seen in a while and really kick things off on a new path. The Thundercats have enough material that they could easily be made into two or three movies if the setting and the plot is worked right, and it would offer a chance for kids of this generation to see what was so great about them in the first place. It might not stand up to the big three right away if at all, but it would be another option for people to view and something that a lot of us would thoroughly enjoy.
That is, if it’s done right.
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