Thunder! Thunder! Thundercats are set to return for a new animated series!

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Hoooooooo! It's time to fire up your best bag of catnip and hold onto your childhoods, folks, because Cartoon Network is bringing back the Thundercats! Now, before you go coughing up a hairball about this announcement, I should probably warn you that the Thundercats team is going to look a little um … different, for this iteration based on the beloved 1980s animated property.

I think that before we get to the kibbles and bits of this thing, I'll ruffle your fur with some art featruing the drastically different look of the characters for the new series:

Who's to blame for this radical change in art direction, you ask? Well, Cartoon Network and Warner Bros. Animation, of course. The new animated show is titled THUNDERCATS ROAR, which will re-imagine Lion-O and the rest of the Thundercats in a new, family-friendly animation featuring a comedic bent.  

“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 remarked to 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.”

Here's the official synopsis for the upcoming animated 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.

Lending their voices to THUNDERCATS ROAR are 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.

Here's some more art from the upcoming action comedy adventure animation:

For those of us who're old enough to remember the original THUNDERCATS (proudly raises hand), the show was set on Third Earth, where a race of super-fit, catlike aliens are forced into hiding by the violent Mutants of Plun-Darr. After establishing their new home on Third Earth, the Thunderan Prince Lion-O assembles the remaining Thundercats to wage a war again the Mutants and the planet's nefarious leader, Mumm-Ra. Upon learning of the Thundercats, the black magic-wielding villain becomes obsessed with laying his ancient, bandage-wrapped mits on the storied Sword of Omens. Here's the thing, though. The sword is in Lion-O's possession, and he's not about to give it up without a fight.

Oh wow. Okay, so I must confess that I am totally into this reboot. Even though the animation style is nowhere near the look of the original, I'm cool with that. After all, the show isn't for dinosaurs of the '80s like me, anymore. It's time to pass the torch, my friends, and if that means the show will get a STEVEN UNIVERSE-looking rework, so be it.

Let us know your thoughts, feelings, and reasons for rage-quitting this nostalgic property that you likley haven't thought of in ages in the comments section below.

THUNDERCATS ROAR will debut on Cartoon Network in 2019.