80s nostalgia seems to be a huge selling point these days with the sucess of films like Ready Player One, and shows that have rebooted old programs like Voltron: legacy Defenders, retro nostalgia is very clearly a viable market right now. With that being said, a few months ago they announced a Thundercats reboot called Thundercats: Roar and the first looks have been met with mixed reception to put it lightly. With that in mind, I was going through my VRV account to find something new to watch, and what should appear but something that I had all but forgotten about. Back in 2011 Cartoon Network aired an anime style reboot of Thundercats, so I figured, why not go back and watch. Well, what I was not disappointed because Thundercats was a phenomenal reboot that deserved to continue.
What's most impressive about this show is the way that they took the initial story of Thundercats, and threw it out to create something new and unique. It didn't try to strattle itself down to being a successor so much as made leaps and strides into making it something on it's own. Now don't get me wrong, that's not to say that it doesn't FEEL like Thundercats. They've got the things that made the original show iconic as it was, the epic fights, but most importantly we get to hear "THUNDER! THUNDER!! THUNDERCATS! HO!!!" once more as we get to see Liono and his team fight back the forces of Mum-Ra. What's even better is that they do a very clever job of finding a unique way to pass the torch down from its predecessor to it.
The first episode is actually a 2 parter called "Sword of Omens," where we see a Liono who kinda has his heads in the clouds on these "myths" of technology. He is heir to the throne and his lack of commitment to that responsibility is something that constantly infuriates his father, King Claudus. Who should voice King Claudus other than Larry Kenny, the voice of the original Liono. Throughout the episode we get to hear the old Liono show his successor the power of the sword and through this we get to see the torch passed from one generation to the next to kick off the series.
I won't say anything else on the plot of the show, I don't want to spoil anything for those who are curious. However, story is just one thing that makes this show worth while. The animation and effects of the show are beautiful and show just how much care this team had in bringing this old IP some new life. The new character models for Liono and his colleagues, for Mum-Ra, all of it is just a universal upgrade, and the show is accompanies by a great score that successfully captures the epicness of this tale. Voice talent on this show is also off the charts, where we have already talked about Larry Kenny as Claudus, Will Friedle (Boy Meets World, Batman Beyond) voices Liono, and he is accompanied by other talents such as Matthew Mercer (Attack on Titan, and Dragon Ball: Super) as Tygra, and at his opposite you have Robin Atkin Downes (Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes) as Mum-Ra.
Thundercats is a brilliantly done reboot, and it's a shame that a show like this existed just before it's time. Had this show even come out 5 years later, following the success of Dreamworks and Netflix's Voltron: Legacy Defenders, this would have easily been a smash hit. Sadly, we must deal with the very disappointing looking Thundercats: Roar! Until then though, you can check out Thundercats on the VRV app created by Crunchyroll.
This has been another edition of Comic Relief! we hope you have enjoyed and we will see you next time!
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