When Mark Wahlberg announced 10 years ago that he wanted to recapture the success of The Six Million Dollar Man, it seemed like a surefire hit. Well, at least for those who grew up in the 1970s and believed that slow motion and the sound of ts ts ts ts ts was just because the person was running so fast that only by showing it slowly would it be possible to notice their ability. Or raising an eyebrow and at the same time sounding ts ts ts ts believe in a zoom lens view. That’s because that’s how we met Steve Austin, the former astronaut, and the world’s first bionic man.

The series starring Lee Majors was a worldwide success and aired for five years, between 1973 and 1978, thus directly impacting the imagination of Mark, now 53 years old, who is clearly (like me) a big fan. However, it is 2024 and the film has not yet been made, although it is in pre-production.

The project took a long time due to creative issues; the directors started changing hands, first Peter Berg, then Damian Szifron, until finally Travis Knight settled on him. Then the pandemic, strikes… luck is not on Wahlberg’s side, it seems. Even so, the actor assures that we will have the film before he enters the group of sixty-somethings. Is that really true? This also depends on whether the star manages to resolve the copyright issues.

Well, perhaps taking a dig at George Clooney, who once played Batman, Mark has always said that he would never want to play a “hero coming out of a cave with a cape”, but he would love an exceptional man. “I have a superhero movie in mind, and it’s The Six Billion Dollar Man, formally known as The Six Million Dollar Man, which has increased due to inflation,” the actor joked at Comic-Con. “It’s grounded, and it’s plausible, it’s real. You know, there’s a lot of bionic technology and science going on right now. So this is something that has all the wish fulfillment of a superhero, amazing stuff,” he explained.

For those unfamiliar with the story, the original series is an adaptation of the novel Cyborg, written by Martin Caidin and first published in 1972. The story revolves around Steve Austin, an astronaut who suffers a serious accident during an experimental flight. To save his life, doctors replace parts of his body with cybernetic components, turning him into a “bionic man” with superhuman abilities.

The book explores themes such as the integration of man and machine, the limits of technology, and the ethical implications of such advances. Steve Austin acquires incredible strength, enhanced vision, and the ability to run at incredible speeds, thanks to his bionic enhancements. He then becomes a secret agent, using his new abilities in dangerous missions.

The book’s success was enough to turn it into a series and it premiered on TV in 1973. From then on, Steve Austin entered the world’s imagination and, as his bionic arm, legs, and eye are worth “six million dollars”, they gave the show its name. A few years later, they also launched the spin-off series, The Bionic Woman, with Lindsay Wagner (if the film is successful, it would clearly be an option for an actress, don’t you agree?)

The delay, however, is in Wahlberg’s favor. In 10 years, “caped” superheroes have worn out due to the wave of nostalgia for the ultra-demanded 1980s, but, on the other hand, the adaptation of another Lee Majors hit – the series The Fall Guy – won a movie with Ryan Gosling, but without the expected performance.

What really helps to consider the ideal time for the return of the six million (or billion) dollar man is precisely because the plot has an extremely current theme. The book and series helped to cement the idea of ​​technologically enhanced human beings in the public imagination, and we have never been more frightened by how biotechnology is perceived in society. I, for one, am ready to meet Steve Austin again! Let’s follow the progress of all this negotiation.

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