Star Trek: Lower Decks creator is turning Sega’s Golden Axe into a show

Sega’s arcade hack-and-slash beat-’em-up Golden Axe is being adapted for television. In something of an unexpected twist, that TV series will be an animated comedy. Mike McMahan (Star Trek: Lower Decks, Solar Opposites) and Joe Chandler (American Dad!) will co-write the first episode and executive produce the 10-episode series, Comedy Central announced Wednesday. The announcement came two days after Paramount revealed that season 5 of Lower Decks would be the series’ final installment.

Golden Axe heroes Ax Battler, Tyris Flare, and Gilius Thunderhead will face down the evil Death Adder in the animated comedy, and they’ll be joined by an all-new character: inexperienced adventurer Hampton Squib, voiced by Community’s Danny Pudi. Joining Pudi in the voice cast are Matthew Rhys (The Americans) as lightning-powered dwarf Gilius, Lisa Gilroy (Jury Duty) as fiery swordswoman Tyris, and Liam McIntyre (Spartacus) as the earthshaking Ax — who does not fight with an ax, and is described as “a barbarian warrior with a strict code of honor and sweet golden retriever demeanor.”

Comedy Central’s Golden Axe will feature another deep-cut character from the franchise: Chronos “Evil” Lait, voiced by Carl Tart (Star Trek: Lower Decks). Chronos is the black panther/human hybrid warrior from Sega Genesis sequel Golden Axe 3, who was turned into a beastman by that game’s big bad boss, Damned Hellstrike. This is a game series with really good character names, folks.

Animation studio Titmouse, responsible for series like Big Mouth, Frog and Toad, The Legend of Vox Machina, and much more, is animating the Golden Axe series.

Golden Axe is one of several Sega adaptations in the works. The third Sonic the Hedgehog movie will hit theaters later this year (with Keanu Reeves joining the franchise as Shadow), and a spin-off centered on Knuckles the Echidna drops on Paramount Plus in April. There’s also a Streets of Rage movie in the works, with John Wick franchise creator Derek Kolstad at the helm.

Sega has been trying for the better part of a decade to turn its video game properties into film and television projects. The company has previously announced adaptations of games like Shinobi and Rent-A-Hero, without much to show for it. But 2020’s Sonic the Hedgehog movie appears to have accelerated Sega’s plans, with more projects finally coming to fruition.

Golden Axe is also being revived in video game form. At last year’s The Game Awards, Sega revealed modern iterations of its medieval fantasy beat-’em-up alongside new versions of Jet Set Radio, Crazy Taxi, Shinobi, and Streets of Rage.