Entertainment Swindon

Prime Video has resurrected Jules Verne’s prequel to 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea. But it hasn’t been plain sailing to get this adaptation to the screen.

Nautilus was set to appear on the Disney Plus streaming service, but before it had a chance of premiere, the show was dropped. After being dropped, the show was picked up by various platforms and broadcasters, including AMC (in the US), Stan (in Australia, where the series was filmed) & Prime Video (in the UK and Ireland) meaning it will still see a wide release.

It’s been more than a year since Nautilus was made for Disney Plus, but fortunately with the collection of broadcasters and streaming platforms, including Amazon Prime, viewers can now watch the complete first season.

Nautilus has had a mixed reaction by reviewers, so the team at Entertainment Swindon sat down and binged the show. So what did we think?

Well, without even watching a single episode, the small screen adaptation is a great idea, being a TV series, we can get more depth in the characters, spend more time on the storylines, giving a much better picture of Captain Nemo, his back story and of the Nautilus. A film would not be able to give all of this to viewers in the way a TV series can.

After the first episode, we were all hooked, there’s plenty of action mixed in with plenty of humour.

The prequel to Jules Verne’s 1870 novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, provides the backstory for Captain Nemo, the mercurial captain of the futuristic submarine Nautilus, and following the Nautilus on its first adventures.

Set in 1857, we find Nemo, played by Shazad Latif, a captive slave working on the construction of the Nautilus for the East India Company in Bombay, but as Nemo and his fellow slaves are working on the futuristic submarine, they conspire to capture it and flee.

Helped by his crew, a mixture of fellow revolutionaries and a handful of hostages caught up in the capture of the Nautilus, they set off on an indefinite maritime adventure.

As well as Nemo, other notible characters include a posh English woman, Humility Lucas played by Georgia Flood whose personal connection to the East India Company even more ensures the Nautilus is pursued by moustache-twirling Brits.

As well as East India Company hot on their heels, Nemo’s adventures wouldn’t be complete without a giant squid, treacherous waters and the odd traitor popping up.

All in all, it’s a fun adaptation to Jules Verne’s prequel to 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea and well worth watching.

So Will there be Nautilus season 2?

Prime Video is yet to announce whether Nautilus has been renewed for season 2 or cancelled, but with the numerous distributors make for a chaotic uncertain situation. But at least for now, it’s got its release.

However, the fragmented nature of the release strategy may make it more complicated than usual for Nautilus to secure a renewal, so it would certainly need a strong reaction from viewers to to give it potential for broadcasters to see its potential.

When could a potential Nautilus season 2 be released?

If Nautilus were to be renewed for season 2, it could be some time before it actually lands on our screens.

Filming for the first season took place over a period of approximately 11 months, with additional time for scripting and post-production also necessary to ensure the show is fit for public consumption.

Therefore, we’d expect an 18-24 month production cycle for Nautilus, which would place a potential season 2 release window in summer/autumn 2026.