Wahlberg teases the “grounded” superhero reboot.
For the better part of a decade, actor Mark Wahlberg has been attached to star in a new take on The Six Million Dollar Man, Lee Majors’ iconic television series that ran from 1973 to 1978. The reboot has ebbed and flowed out of development ever since, all while the world of action and superhero movies has evolved along the way — and apparently, Wahlberg is still as ready as ever to work on the film. At the red carpet premiere for Netflix’s upcoming movie The Union, ComicBook asked Wahlberg if his recent co-stars Halle Berry or Tom Holland have tried to recruit him to join the Marvel universe. As Wahlberg put it, his biggest priority in the superhero space is his take on The Six Million Dollar Man, joking that the title will now have to be changed for a topical reason.
“You know, I have one superhero movie in mind, and it’s The Six Billion Dollar Man, formally known as The Six Million Dollar Man, gone up due to inflation,” Wahlberg joked, before adding, “It’s grounded, and it’s plausible, real. You know, there is lots of bionics technology and science happening right now. So this is something that has all the wish fulfillment of a superhero, incredible things. But I don’t have to wear one of those suits. I don’t have the confidence to walk around in one of those suits. Halle goes, ‘Oh you’d look great in one of those costumes,’ I go, ‘It’s not the physical appearance, it’s the mental confidence to walk out of my trailer.'”
Based on Martin Caidin’s 1972 novel Cyborg, The Six Billion Dollar Man would presumably follow a former astronaut who, after a test flight crash, is rebuilt by the government as a high-tech bionic government agent.
“You know what, I think there is finally hope for that to happen,” Wahlberg told Collider in 2023. “And I think it’s kind of actually a lot to do with this movie, because hopefully Skydance will have the rights, if not fully buttoned up now, very soon, and we’ll fast track that movie to get made. So, I’m still not out of the fight, I’m still grinding every day to get it made. You know, its tough to get certain things made it’s very difficult, it was an uphill battle, but I think certain ones are worth just seeing through to the end.”
