After nearly 20 years, Lion-O and the ThunderCats — Tygra, Panthro, Cheetara, Wilykat and Wilykit — are making a comeback courtesy of Warner Bros. Animation. Production on ThunderCats Roar, a new animated sci-fi comedy series is officially underway and set to return to television on Cartoon Network in 2019.
ThunderCats Roar is said to be "bursting with over-the-top action and razor-sharp comedy," with producer Victor Courtright speaking to Entertainment Weekly about the series' comedic side. “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," Courtright said.
But for fans of the original series worried the shift towards comedy might mean less action-adventure, Courtright assured that ThunderCats Roar will still "cool action scenes."
"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," Courtright promised.
"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.”
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.
ThunderCats Roar is set to premiere on Cartoon Network in 2019.