Screenwriter Rhett Reese has shot down rumors that 6 Underground is secretly a live-action ThunderCats movie starring Ryan Reynolds. Produced by Netflix and directed by Michael Bay, the action movie, which reportedly centers on a group of six billionaires who fake their deaths to become crime-fighters, is currently being filmed in anticipation of a 2019 release. The script is being handled by Reese and his writing partner Paul Wernick, who are best known for their work on Zombieland and Deadpool.

The confusion started after IGN Middle East reported that 6 Underground was truly a live-action adaptation of the classic ThunderCats cartoon. Unlikely as this seemed, the report was given credence due to the fact that director Michael Bay has been attached to direct a ThunderCats movie since 2012. It also helped that one of Reese and Wernick's previous writing projects was the screenplay for G.I. Joe: Retaliation - another live-action movie based on a popular animated series and toy line from the 1980s. Finally, the source of this news reportedly broke the story that Simon Pegg had been cast in Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens and, as such, was considered credible.

Related: Michael Bay & Ryan Reynolds' Netflix Project Is A Secret ThunderCats Movie

Reese denied the rumors in a Tweet which can be viewed below. Reese's answer was short and sweet, definitively shooting down the claims that 6 Underground was a secret ThunderCats film. Presumably, as co-author of the screenplay, he would know for certain what the movie is about.

Deadpool Writer Rhett Reese Responds To Rumor That 6 Underground Is Thundercats Movie

Bay offered further evidence against the rumors on his Instagram account, where he posted a picture of his Parkour team scaling the dome of a Cathedral in Florence, Italy, where 6 Underground is currently filming. This conflicted with the narrative of the IGN Middle East report (which suggested the movie would start filming in Abu Dhabi in November) but it also indirectly refuted the idea that Bay was working on a ThunderCats movie. The original ThunderCats cartoon was primarily set on an alien world called Third Earth. While not totally disallowing for shooting in modern-day Florence, it does seem unlikely Bay would do this given that the show featured more wild jungles and windswept plains than large cities.

While some will point to Netfilx's record of acquiring movies like The Cloverfield Paradox in secret as reason to find Reese's denial suspect, there is no logical reason for the company to go this far in trying to hide the production of a movie as highly anticipated as a live-action ThunderCats film. Thankfully, given the track-records of all the creators involved in making 6 Underground, few are likely to be upset by the prospect that Bay is merely directing an action movie starring Reynolds, with a script by the writers responsible for Deadpool. Sadly, this does mean that ThunderCats fans will have to continue to wait for their long-awaited live-action film adaptation.

More: 15 Things You Never Knew About ThunderCats

Source: Rhett Reese