Reimagining Captain Nemo: AMC’s ‘Nautilus’ Highlights His Indian Heritage

Jules Verne’s 1870 novel, “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea,” presents Captain Nemo as a submarine commander marked by deep sorrow and fury toward the imperial power responsible for the loss of his family—identified as Britain. However, the widely recognized 1954 Disney film adaptation softens this focus, portraying Nemo’s anger as directed at a vague, unnamed nation characterized by capitalism and warmongering.

In that film, British actor James Mason’s portrayal emphasizes a melancholic and reclusive Nemo, who plays haunting melodies on his pipe organ while harboring ambiguous resentment toward an unspecified “hated nation” that clearly resembles Britain.

Over the years, numerous adaptations across film, television, and radio have shaped a consistent image of Captain Nemo: a taciturn, brooding, middle-aged white man largely confined beneath the ocean’s surface.

The AMC series “Nautilus,” which premieres this Sunday, challenges that long-standing portrayal.

This iteration introduces a younger Captain Nemo, whose story begins with the Nautilus’s inaugural voyage—decades before he adopts the cynical and embittered persona familiar to readers and viewers. Unlike previous versions, this Nemo is an adventurous action hero, engaging in sword fights, cannon battles, rifle duels, and even confronting a giant squid or riding a harpooned whale at full speed.

Actor Shazad Latif, who brings this version of Nemo to life, recalled, “I spent most of that day drenched on top of this mechanical whale. My makeup artist had to be ferried over on a paddleboard for touch-ups and retouches.”