‘Nautilus’ Will Tell the Origin Story of Captain Nemo on Disney+

Studios have been trying and failing for decades to develop their own adaptation of the classic seafaring Jules Verne novel, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. Unless you count The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and the appearance of Captain Nemo as a 19th century superhero (you really shouldn’t count it, though), Disney’s 1954 film was the last proper adaptation of the legendary 1870 story. That’s set to change with this latest news, as Disney+ is sailing right on ahead with Nautilus, a series that will depict the origin story for Captain Nemo and his beloved submarine.

According to THR, Nautilus is being planned as a new 10-part live action series that’s excitingly described as:

“An Indian prince robbed of his birth right and family, a prisoner of the East India Company and a man bent on revenge against the forces which have taken everything from him, Nemo set sail with his ragtag crew on board the awe-inspiring vessel, battling foes and discovering magical underwater worlds.”

This sounds like more bad news for the “keep politics out of my entertainment” crowd and great news for the rest of us.

Nautilus is written and executive produced by James Dormer as well as executive produced by Johanna Devereaux. Deveraux issued a statement in conjunction with the series announcement:

“Jules Verne’s story is a beloved classic all around the world. It’s a huge privilege to bring the Nautilus and her crew to life again in such a bold, exciting way, with a diverse team of creative talent and on-screen characters. The series will be breathtaking, action-packed and a huge amount of fun.”

Getting Back to the Roots

Just based on that description, Devereaux’s quote, and the inevitable casting down the line, we can safely assume that this series will be diving headfirst into the inseparable politics present and accounted for throughout Verne’s novel. And before any sorely misguided souls come running in to insist upon the sanctity of the source material becoming tarnished forever by the filthy hands of modern culture, Verne himself used a later novel titled The Mysterious Island to change Nemo’s background to an East Indian whose ancestor battled Britain’s East India Trading Company.

This will only be the latest of several adaptations to cast an Indian as Nemo, allowing the creators to really dig deep into the optics of an Indian renegade fighting a one-man war against the oppressing British navy. There’s no word yet on a planned release date, but we’ll be keeping an eye on any future developments with keen interest.

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