Cartoon Network and Warner Bros. Animation are reviving the ThunderCats for a new animated series, titled ThunderCats Roar. The series will reimage Lion-O and the rest of the ThunderCats in a new, kid-friendly animation style with a dose of comedy tossed in.
“I think the world that they built lends itself really well to comedy because of how silly and crazy and outlandish those ideas are and some of those settings are,” producer Victor Courtright told Entertainment Weekly. “But at the same time, it wouldn’t be ThunderCats if it didn’t have super cool action elements because that’s what people came back to. It’s very much something that we want to lean on. So with the new show, we’re not walking away from the action in any bit. Every step we take towards comedy, we take two more towards really cool action scenes and explosions and lasers and actions effects.”
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Below is the official synopsis for the series.
Staying true to the premise of the original series, Lion-O and the ThunderCats — Tygra, Panthro, Cheetara, Wilykat, and Wilykit — barely escape the sudden destruction of their home world, Thundera, only to crash land on the mysterious and exotic planet of Third Earth. Lion-O, the newly appointed Lord of the ThunderCats, attempts to lead the team as they make this planet their new home. A bizarre host of creatures and villains stand in their way, including the evil Mumm-Ra, Third Earth’s wicked ruler who will let nothing, including the ThunderCats, stop his tyrannical reign over the planet.
The voice cast for ThunderCats Roar was also released, with Max Mittelman (Justice League Action) voicing Lion-O and Wilykat, Erica Lindbeck (DC Super Hero Girls) as Cheetara and Wilykit, Patrick Seitz (Justice League Action) voicing Tygra and Mumm-Ra, and Chris Jai Alex (Star Wars: Battlefront II) as Panthro.
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Airing from 1985 to 1989, ThunderCats is set on Third Earth, where a race of catlike aliens are forced to take refuge while escaping the evil Mutants of Plun-Darr. Upon arriving on Third Earth, the Thunderan Prince Lion-O leads the remaining ThunderCats to fight the incoming Mutants and the planet’s Mumm-Ra, who desires the legendary Sword of Omens to continue his evil rule. ThunderCats inspired toys and merchandise, comic books and a 2011 television reboot, which also aired on Cartoon Network.
ThunderCats Roar debuts on Cartoon Network in 2019.