‘Golden Axe’ Animated Series From Mike McMahan Set at Comedy Central; Matthew Rhys and Danny Pudi Among Voice Cast
A “Golden Axe” animated series has been greenlit at Comedy Central, Variety has learned.
Based on the beloved Sega games of the same name, the show hails from co-creators Mike McMahan and Joe Chandler. Matthew Rhys (“The Americans,” “Perry Mason”), Danny Pudi (“Community,” “Mythic Quest”), Lisa Gilroy (“Jury Duty,” “Interior Chinatown”), Liam McIntyre (“Spartacus,” “The Flash”), and Carl Tart (“Grand Crew,” “Star Trek: Lower Decks”) will lead the voice cast.
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Comedy Central has ordered 10 episodes. The official description of the series states the show “follows veteran warriors Ax Battler (McIntyre), Tyris Flare (Gilroy), and Gilius Thunderhead (Rhys) as they once again battle to save Yuria from the evil giant Death Adder who just won’t seem to stay dead. Fortunately, this time they have the inexperienced and underprepared Hampton Squib (Pudi) on their side.”
Full character descriptions can be found below.
McMahan and Chandler will co-write the first episode of the series and serve as executive producers, with Chandler also serving as showrunner. Haruki Satomi, President and CEO of Sega Sammy Holdings Inc., Shuji Utsumi, president and COO of Sega Corporation, and Sega’s Toru Nakahara will also executive produce. Neal H. Moritz, Pavun Shetty and Toby Ascher of Original Film will executive produce as well along with Titmouse’s Chris Prynoski, Shannon Prynoski, Antonio Canobbio and Ben Kalina. Titmouse will serve as the animation studio for the series. CBS Studios’ animation arm, CBS Eye Animation, will produce along with Sony Pictures Television and Original Film.
News of the series comes just after Variety exclusively reported that “Star Trek: Lower Decks,” which was created by McMahan, will be ending with its fifth season. McMahan is also known for his time as a writer and executive producer on “Rick and Morty” and is the co-creator of the Hulu animated series “Solar Opposites.” Chandler is an executive producer for the long-running animated series “American Dad” and previously wrote for shows like the “Napoleon Dynamite” animated series.
The first “Golden Axe” game was released in 1989. The side scroller proved to be highly popular, with four games in the main series having been released to date. Sega has also released a number of spinoffs. There had been talk of adapting the games for film and television going back to 2014, though no projects came to fruition until now.
Character Descriptions
–Matthew Rhys will play Gilius Thunderhead, a grumpy battle dwarf with exceptionally poor hygiene and a chip on his shoulder.
–Danny Pudi will play Hampton Squib, a naive, inexperienced first time adventurer who has dreamt of questing his entire life. He hopes his can-do attitude can make up for his inability to actually do stuff.
–Lisa Gilroy will play Tyris Flare, a fearsome battle sorceress, deadly in a fight and even deadlier with her sharp wit.
–Liam McIntyre will play Ax Battler, a barbarian warrior with a strict code of honor and sweet golden retriever demeanor. His brawn outweighs his brains, but his heart outweighs his brawn.
–Carl Tart will play Chronos “Evil” Lait, originally from “Golden Axe III”, is a 100% badass humanoid panther. At least that’s how Chronos describes himself. In reality he’s uncomfortably cheesy and can’t read a room.
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